The Wedding Nin
by yourfaithfulangel
Summary: Naruto...getting married?" Will Sakura have enough time to figure out what she feels, or will Naruto be out of her life forever...when did love get so hard? PLEASE R&R my first fanfiction! Naru and Saku and other various pairings.
1. Proprosed Good or bad news?

Note

This is my first fanfiction story. I have read so many over the months and everyone does such a great job, I would be lucky to have half the talent of some people. Just read and review, and let me know if I should keep going. I have some great ideas! Thanks guys…enjoy

" " – speaking  
_' italics'_ - thoughts

Disclaim: I do not own Naruto

The sun was high in the sky as Sakura and Sasuke made their way around the Hidden Village of the Leaf. The Konoha village was one of the strongest nations, and it was their job to protect it. Today however was a good day to escape the hectic ninja life and just enjoy each others company.

Granted it was a slow day, so Sakura was not needed at the hospital, she loved to take long walks around the village. Sakura was almost twenty three, and long over the crazy crush she had for Sasuke, which resulted in him liking to spend time with the cherry blossom. As the two made their way around they saw Naruto come into view ahead of them on the dirt path, and a large smile came to Sakura's face. Sasuke and Sakura made their way over, but before Sakura could even open her mouth to greet Naruto, he started speaking hastily.

"I'm getting married…", Naruto's voice was in a firm officially tone, much unlike his goofy self.

Sasuke and Sakura stood there bewildered as they looked at each other both surprised by there friend's outburst. Sakura and Sasuke knew that Naruto had been dating for awhile; being seen all over town, but never did either imagine it would amount to…marriage?

Sasuke was the first out of the two to stick out his hand and congratulate Naruto on his forthcoming marriage plans. Sakura just stood for a moment looking back and forth at Sasuke and Naruto. It was a nice sight to see bitter rivals change to bonded brothers.

'_Naruto…getting married.._.', she thought giving a blank stare to both men.

"I proposed and she accepted, its time I settle down anyhow", his response came once again with authority in his tone, but was quickly replaced with a fat grin.

"Even a baka like me can get lucky.", Naruto joked turning toward Sakura and poking her shoulder to bring her from her thoughts.

"Well it's about time Naruto, Hinata and you have been going out for some time now." Sakura looked at him her emerald eyes full with half awe and half regret.

After Sasuke had come back Naruto and Sakura's friendship grew apart, they were still best friends, but the nature of their friendship had changed. Naruto no longer bugged her or followed her around, his interest in Hinata grew. Sakura at first was thrilled to see the change in Naruto, but over time she missed the dope.

The three of them started walking down the dirty dusty road; a familiar voice stopped them in their tracks. "Hello all" came a calm voice.

Their heads turned toward the sky to see a presumable smiling Kakashi gazing down at his former students. The infamous team 7 had all gone their own ways.

Sakura was spending her days at the hospital and training hard with Tsunade-sama. Sasuke was always training and had been reinstated as a shinobi. He went on solo missions; everyone knew best not to get in the way of the Uchiha. Naruto had grown most of all, he was now an ANBU captain, and heading for the title of Hokage everyday. He was able to control the demon fox that was contained within him, allowing him to harness a power even greater than the fourth Hokage.

Kakashi tucked away his book and joined the crew who were all headed to Ichiraku's for some ramen. As soon as they arrived they took a booth, ordered and ate with great pleasure. Sakura couldn't help but feel proud that the three most popular men in Konoha were all so close to her; she never wanted to lose the feeling she had with these men.

As her thoughts engulfed her about Naruto and Hinata's wedding, she began to fear the change that would be unavoidable. She looked down into her ramen, stuck her chop stick in and began to swirl the noodles around. Kakashi took notice of her worried expression.

"Sakura is everything okay" he asked once again closing his eyes in a smile.

"Hai Kakashi-sensei I just don't kno…

"Naruto-kun", came a tender but love filled voice.

Everyone at the booth turned to see Hinata standing behind them. Naruto was quick to his feet and engulfed her in a light hug.

"Hello everyone I'm sure Naruto-kun has told you the news"

Everyone shook their heads as they looked back and forth between Naruto and Hinata.

They did make a nice couple. Naruto had grown over the years, his baby features departed replaced by a muscular toned body, and vivid smile. His eyes however remained ocean blue. The calm before the storm as Sakura remembered them. Naruto's cat like whiskers had disappeared leaving nothing but smooth skin in its place, his once chubby face catching the attention of all the girls in Konoha.

Naruto motioned for Hinata to sit, but quickly realized that all the sits were taken. Sakura jumped to her feet.

"Hinata, you can sit here, I was on my way to the hospital anyway. I can't stay away too long.", replied a slight shaken Sakura.

"Thank you Sakura, you are always bringing me luck", expressed Hinata.

Sakura raised her eyebrow at this as she headed toward the exit, "How is that so Hinata", curiosity filled in her voice.

"If you hadn't turned my Naruto-kun down all those times over the years, we would never be here", Hinata replied.

At this tiny comment Sakura froze, one foot out the door and one foot in. She stood there for what seemed like forever to her. She turned around but found no words were coming out. She immediately looked at Naruto with a worried expression on her face.

His face was emotionless, not wanting to recall all the times he followed behind Sakura through the streets of Konoha, but his face drew an extensive smile as he looked at Hinata.

"I am grateful I found you Hinata, at least when you hit me I don't fly 50 feet into the air", Naruto bellowed as he placed a hand behind his head and gently rubbed. Laughter burst throughout the table as Kakashi and Sasuke in unison nodded there heads a small smirk on both their faces, where as Hinata giggled timidly.

Sakura found no humor in the joke and screamed "BAKA, when I get my hands on you...," as she made her way over to the hospital.

Just as she stepped into the hospital a fellow medic nin handed her a chart. Sakura took one look at it and stomped off toward the direction of her next patient, not at all happy about him being there.

"Choji, you are forbidden to eat any more pork rinds, this is the third time this week you have been brought in for stomach pain" Sakura screamed at the some what scared Choji.

Shikamaru sat at a small desk behind Sakura shaking this head.

"How troublesome" he thought as he looked at Sakura and than back at bed ridden scared Choji.

"I always get stuck being the one who has to bring him in."

"Hey forehead" came a high pitched thrilled voice

Sakura felt a vein pop from the side of her head. She could feel her fists automatically curl into a ball, but remembered it was her friend Ino after all, and the fact of the matter was she did have a big forehead.

Sakura let out a small sigh and turned on her heel to face Ino, "What is it now, did you need a brain transplant Ino?"

Ino finding no humor in what Sakura was saying squealed about letting out her most recent gossip, and on the top of her list was none other than Naruto and Hinata's wedding plans.

"You know I heard Naruto wants a day wedding and Hinata wants an evening wedding"

Sakura every much not interested about hearing about details of a wedding that was months away, excused herself to check up on some other patients around the hospital. To her dismay Ino followed behind yet again speaking of Naruto and Hinata's wedding.

"I also heard Naruto wants to make that hunk of a god Sasuke his best man, and Hinata wants…well wants YOU to be her maid of honor."

At the last part of the sentence Sakura grabbed Ino and dropped her month open.

"What did you say?", she asked dumbfounded by the new information. "Where did you hear that from?"

"From the horse's mouth", she replied, almost sure that Sakura was squeezing hard on a vital point in her body.

"She was saying how she gives you all the credit for bringing Naruto and herself together and wants you to share in on the most special day of their lives." Ino replied lifting her arm to make sure Sakura hadn't broke anything from the hard squeeze.

Sakura was more confused than ever now, she didn't want to be Hinata's maid of honor, but she couldn't but a finger on why.

'_What is wrong with me, I should be happy for Naruto and all I am doing is having uncertainties about his marriage to Hinata. Naruto would have a family, his own family why can't I just let him have that as his best friend_.'

By now Ino must have waved her hand back and forth in front of Sakura's face ten times and still no response.

"Hello forehead is anyone there", she asked fully concerned now.

Sakura had to go talk to Hinata maybe she could explain that she wasn't the best person to be her maid of honor; there were plenty of other good friends in Konoha that she could ask.

"I have to finish checking on the rest of my patients, and head over to the Hyuga compound on my way home", she informed Ino.

She grabbed her chart off the desk and turned back to see Shikamaru heading back to Choji's room in a sneaky type manner.

"Did you get it", asked a very hungry Choji.

"Yeah yeah what do I look like of course I got it. You would have rolled out of here yourself if I hadn't, and it would be so troublesome to have to find you. ", Shikamaru replied prepared to toss the bag of pork rinds to Choji. Sometimes his friend did not know the meaning of enough, but what could he do; he loved food.

"I wonder who I should hit first Choji or…you", Sakura stood behind Shikamaru which caused him to freeze in his tracks.

"Troublesome" he replied out loud. He didn't want to be in close range of the angry medic nin. He threw the pork rinds in the air and was out the window in a flash. Sakura caught the pork rinds in her hands, and turned to face Choji, who had his head under the covers now.

"Troublesome indeed" she stated unsure if she was talking about Choji or the weddings plans. She turned on her heal and headed out the door, shaking her head.

'_What else could go wrong_…'


	2. The Other Side of Me

NOTE

Thank you to those of you who have reviewed. I told myself if at least one person did I would continue with the story. No worries Rock Lee and Sasuke are on the way soon. Let me know what you think. Thanks guys take care.

Chapter Title: The other side of me

--

The day had dragged on for Sakura, she had seen patients who had gone through four wrong genjutsus, two improper summon mishaps, Choji's pork rinds, and a scrapped knee from a kid who would not stop crying. She mentally reminded herself to take a long hot bath when she got home, but first she had to see Hinata to get this confusion cleared up about her being the maid of honor.

Sakura knew it would be a long walk to the Hyuga compound but she decided to make the most of it, the warm breeze that blew through Konoha this time of year was unlike any other village.

It seemed like you were walking on clouds that circled the sun she cherished the feeling of the crisp warm breeze against her face. She closed her eyes to benefit from it more, and took small steps to ensure she wouldn't hit anything, opening them ever so often to make sure her path was clear.

When she arrived to the grand house she knocked lightly against the large iron doors.

No answer, this time she tried harder, yet still no one came to the door. The third knock was more fierce causing the pink haired cherry blossom to get a little irritated, she turned to make sure no one was behind her when the door swung open loud laughter and music could be heard coming from inside.

She turned around sharply changing her facial expression back to normal from her pervious irritated state. To her surprise she was met about chin high to a man wearing a black jacket, she didn't even have to look up to know who it was, she closed her eyes and took in his scent and promptly opened them.

"Naruto?"

Sakura had forgotten how tall he had gotten, since they rarely stood this close to each other anymore.

She looked up at him but his face was turned inside, when he heard the voice he turned to look at who he had opened the door for only to find Sakura looking up at him.

"Sakura-chan what are you doing here", he asked a surprise look on his face from his unexpected guest.

"I was in the neighborhood and had to stop by and see Hinata", making an awkward face because she lived all the way across town.

Naruto snorted, "You live on the other side of town"

"Shut-up Naruto, may I please come in now?" Sakura growled under her breath

A half giggling Naruto moved out of her way clearing a walking path. Sakura stepped in once again taking in the scent of Naruto before it was replaced with another one. She was greeted by the clan leader, Hinata's father; she bowed in respect to the clan head, and continued on her way to see Hinata.

Sakura had planned what she would say all the way over to the house, yet she did not plan on Naruto being there, and unlucky for her she had forgotten everything she was going to say.

Well she knew she had to start with "So Hinata, Ino told me you picked me for you maid of honor, are you crazy", of course that's not what she was really going to say but she needed a way out of this.

"Hinata I ran into Ino who congratulated me on being you maid of honor", Sakura replied as she took a seat across from Hinata

"Oh I was hoping to surprise you when you and Naruto for when I invited Sasuke and you over for dinner. Hinata replied with a soft smile.

This speared shock not only across sakura's face but Naruto's as well.

'_Naruto had no clue I was the maid of honor._'

Naruto didn't know what to say, the girl that he chased around for years and pretty much loved with all his heart growing up was going to be his future bride's maid of honor.

He knew Sakura and he were best friends, but after Sasuke came back he knew the love that Sakura had for Sasuke would never go away. Naruto would never compare to him, and he would never see the love he longed to see in her eyes. He was tired of being pushed away and decided it was time to move on, but having Sakura a part of the wedding could lead to some complicated feelings.

"Honey, maybe Sakura doesn't want to be the maid of honor", Naruto implied

Sakura turned sharply to look at Naruto, a hint of angry in her eyes.

"Hahaha I know you didn't imply what I wanted to do Naruto", Sakura giggled in a high pitched tone.

Naruto shot her a glimpse, "No No of course not I was just saying how it would be an immense commitment and how you don't have any time on your hands."

"Well of course I have time, you don't think I would have time for my best friend's wedding," Sakura turned her body toward Naruto now.

This time Naruto chuckled, "Ha Ha I don't know it is a big significant day we wouldn't want to exhaust you out'."

And so it went back and forth back and forth. Hinata just sat in silence looking back and forth between the two, by the time the night was over Sakura had fully agreed to being Hinata's maid of honor and vowed to be at every little event up to the wedding.

"Well look at the time", Sakura said the clock was almost ready to strike 12.

"I must be heading out now" she sighed knowing the warm breeze would be replaced by a much chiller one.

"Naruto dear will you please walk Sakura home, it is so late and I don't want her going home alone." Hinata replied in a firm but sincere tone.

Sakura turned on her heel to give a loud disagreeing comment but was met with Hinata's eyes.

"We can stand and quarrel about it all night but I am not letting you walk home alone" she replied

Sakura did not have the strength to argue, and gave a small nod, and stepped outside so Naruto could say goodbye to Hinata.

'_What do I look like a little baby I can walk myself home…Hinata is just being nice, maybe that is what Naruto likes about her…well I can be ni.._..'

"Sakura-can… are you ready", asked a half bewildered Naruto who was already at the gated doors that lead out.

They walked in silence; Naruto would kick a stone here and there. Sakura was right about the warm breeze being gone but took in the cold breeze that blew her way.

What a day she thought 'I found out my best friend is getting married and I am the maid of honor and…,

Sakura lost all train of thought when she felt the warm cloth and Naruto's sweet scent fill her nose again. She opened her eyes to find Naruto had placed his black jacket over her shoulders. The cold wind was replaced by a warm cozy feeling.

"It's cold…, you'll get sick and what kind of future Hokage would I be if I let our greatest medic get sick", he replied with a half smile.

Sakura's mind raced with so many thoughts at once, what had happened to them. They had been best friends for so long she thought they knew everything about each other, but when it came time to grow up they grew distant. He was her rock, her source of belief and truth in the world, how could she not say what was on her mind to him. He kicked another stone bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Your hokage dream…:" she smiled "how could I ever forget that." Her face turned stern as she spoke with prestige in her voice.

"You will make a magnificent Hokage someday Naruto," she spoke the words without looking at him, but she knew he had turned to look at her. "You are the number one captain for the ANBU surpassing even Kakashi in skills. You dream of a better tomorrow even if today is not the greatest. Your hope is the light that keeps this city burning. You were once feared as the demon fox, but you are loved as the hero. I am proud of you, Kakashi is proud of you, Sasuke is proud of you."

The final part burned into Naruto's heart. His friendship with Sasuke took years to rebuild but it happened, and to have Sasuke be proud of him was a task he hoped he would one day achieve. But a soft spot tugged at his heart, Sasuke had gotten the girl's heart he had always wanted. He couldn't not remember when it was the last time he walked Sakura-chan home.

Granted she would beat anyone into the ground who thought she was a little girl, but still Sasuke and Sakura spent a great deal of time together. This fueled Naruto to join ANBU and keep himself active and almost away from Sasuke and Sakura. He did not want to be the third wheel in their love affair, he always felt he had lost when it came to Sasuke and Sakura, no matter how much stronger he got.

They arrived at the steps of Sakura's apartment; the wind had begun to pick up. "It looks like rain, you better hurry home", Sakura said her head looking toward the sky.

'Yeah, I think your right", Naruto replied head turning upward as well. He felt he had to avoid his eyes from her emerald ones or his heart would ache like in the past.

"Thank you", she sighed as she looked at him, his head still facing the sky.

"Your welcome", he replied each word feeling heavy against his tongue. They seemed so formal so unlike what they were when they were younger.

Sakura turned to leave climbing up two steps before realizing she still had Naruto's jacket on, she turned around to face Naruto once again only to find he wasn't there. Large, glistening crystal rain drops could be seen now falling by what seemed to be the thousands.

Sakura stood there for a moment, sighed, and took in the sight of the rain, she than walked toward her apartment; clutching Naruto's jacket tightly in her hands.


	3. Ugly Green Jealousy

NOTE

Thanks for the reviews, the more reviews the more I feel like writing! I will try to update as often as I can. I hope you guys like the story! I am still kinda getting the hang of it, but it will get better trust me!

Chapter Title: Ugly Green Jealousy

The piercing ringing of the alarm awoke Sakura. She felt like she had gotten five minutes of sleep the whole night, she kept tossing and turning for a reason unknown to her.

She rose from bed stretching her arms high into the air. Her pink hair was a mess, and her body ached from the lack of sleep. She wanted to climb back into bed and sleep away the day, but she knew that wasn't really an option.

'_You can wait for the world, but the world won't wait for you'_

After a warm shower, and some extensive work to make her hair look neat, she quickly changed into her outfit. Sakura never took to much care into her clothing, but today she wanted to look just a little bit nicer.

She heard a slight noise in the living room, not at all scared she almost without a doubt knew it was Sasuke, he always made an interesting entrance.

As she opened her bedroom door and walked into the living room a grin grew to her face. She was right, but her grin diminished just as quickly as it had arrived when she figured the reason why he was here.

"You took long today", he started giving her his usual dark look.

Ignoring his comment she asked, "Are you leaving on a mission?"

His eyes did not meet hers, and she knew he was going on a dangerous S rank mission, unaccompanied most likely.

"Hm" he replied

"You promised Sasuke, you promised you would not go on those types of missions for awhile, last time…last time you nearly killed me laying in that hospital bed."

Sasuke knew if it hadn't been for her spectacular healing skills we wouldn't be here, but he couldn't stop taking missions because he got ambushed and injured. He wasn't a coward, no matter how much his best friend pleaded with him.

"Sakura I will be okay, I am stopping in the Village of Sand before I head for my mission, Gaara will accompany me. We will both be returning to Konoha in a few days." He replied

Gaara was another good friend that Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura could count on. After saving his life, he vowed to defend Konoha like it was his own home. This new information eased Sakura, but still did not entirely relieve her.

Noticing the alarming expression on her face he had to get her to stop thinking about it to much.

"Breakfast?" asked Sasuke a small grin upon his face.

As they made their way around the village together they encountered a new group of genin. The girls all paused to admire the handsome looking Uchiha. They began fiddling with their hair, and sticking out there tongues to catch his attention.

The genin boys stood around not understanding what the ridiculous girls thought was so amazing about Sasuke. Of course one glance from Sasuke and those same boys were running away in terror. The Uchiha name was still feared in Konoha and many of the villagers knew not to infuriate Sasuke.

After Sasuke came back he moved onto the large compound, and had rebuilt much of it again, wiping away any reminiscences of Itachi.

Sasuke suddenly got in a curious mood.

"So Sakura what do you think of Naruto and Hinata's wedding plans?"

Sakura turned up to look up at him one eyebrow arched in the air.

"I am happy…of course. Why wouldn't I be, they make a wonderful couple. They will be so happy, and this is what he wants." , she spoke in a fast and flustered tone. Sasuke was having a hard time keeping up.

She went on listing the reasons why she was so happy only to be interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Sakura, Sasuke, good morning", said a timid Hinata.

Sakura and Sasuke turned around and found Hinata walking toward them.

"May I ask you something?" said Hinata as she joined the two on their walk.

Both Sasuke and Sakura looked at her and gave a silent nod.

"What should I get Naruto for a wedding gift? You two are his closet friends and know what he would truly like. I want to surprise him; I want him to have whatever he wants."

Sasuke and Sakura did not have a clue what Naruto would like, they looked at each other and back at Hinata not knowing the exact response to provide about not knowing their best friends desires. Much to their fortune Naruto came into view near the gates of Konoha.

Naruto had just finished signing a paper and dismissed an ANBU member. In a flash the ANBU member was gone leaving a whirl of dust in his place.

He took notice of the three people walking toward him, and walked over to join them.

"Good morning Naruto", Sakura sounded quite cheery compared to when she woke up.

" Sasuke and I were on the way to breakfast would you care to join us? Hinata would you like to come as well.", Sakura inquired. Hoping to spend some quality buddy time with Naruto.

"No", was all Naruto said. This caused a few puzzled faces among his friends and fiancé.

They stood there in silent for a moment.

Naruto realized it had come out much more harsh than intended, but he most definitely did not want to have breakfast while Sasuke and Sakura made lovy dovy eyes at each other.

"I mean I can't come at the moment, I have official business at the tower today. It is imperative I be there right away. Sorry I can't join you two."

"I see, well you better get going than don't want you to be late", Sakura replied.

"hm" replied Naruto and gave a swift kiss to Hinata and was gone in a flash.

'_What's bugging him'_, thought Sakura.

Sakura and Sasuke enjoyed their meal, and Sakura bide farewell to Sasuke warning him if he came back injured he would have to dread her more than the hurt he already had. Sasuke promised to be cautious and be back soon. He gave Sakura a quick hug and departed.

Sakura did not know what to do, she was free for the rest of the day and now that Sasuke had gone she was uncertain of how she would pass her time. Maybe she could stop by the hospital just to check on how things were going. She fought against the idea knowing once she got there she would never get the opportunity to get away.

She than remembered how Naruto didn't have a chance to have breakfast and would most likely be hungry by now as it was close to lunch. She made her way to the tower to see if he would like to eat.

"Hello, I am here to see Naruto", she spoke quietly to a lady sitting at the front desk of the tower.

"You may go in," she replied half asleep.

"Thank you", Sakura stated and headed in the direction of the Hokage's office.

Naruto being a captain had his own office fairly close to the Hokage's office. As Sakura turned the corner she noticed his door was open and decided she would sneak up on him to give him a little scare.

"_Naruto was always easy to scare when we were kids, maybe I can make him laugh by doing it now."_

As she crept to the door, she quickly jumped out into the entrance of the doorway, but to her surprise Naruto was not sitting as his desk.

In less than a second, she was against the wall face to face with Naruto. He had his Kunai out but well way from her. Her arms were pinned to the wall, Naruto had his whole body pressed against hers, causing her to blush a cherry red. Their eyes met, causing Sakura to feel as if her heart was beating in her throat. Naruto realized it was Sakura and he hastily let her go.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?," Naruto questioned trying to regain his composure.

Still a slight dazed she wasn't able to reply quickly to his question, "I thought I could scare you, but apparently you shouldn't do that to someone on the ANBU squad.", she huffed.

"I could sense your charka, and than you unexpectedly concealed it. I thought you were after me, so I decided to sneak up on you. I did not realize it was you", Naruto replied tucking his kunai away from view.

"Is that why you came up here to see if you could scare me?" he asked with a confused grin on his face.

"No No I came to ask if you wanted to have lunch since you missed breakfast this morning", Sakura asked.

Naruto was going to reply that he was not hungry. He wanted to spend some time alone doing some thinking about their friendship and his wedding plans, when suddenly his stomach gave a loud grunge noise. He blushed a slight pink.

"_Man my stomach always gets me in trouble_" Naruto thought

"Uhh sure I don't see why we can't get.." he was cut off by a knock on the door

"Naruto, honey are you ready for lunch?" Hinata asked as she stood by the doorway.

There was a moment of silence.

"You know now that I think of it I have some training to do, so I better head out.", Sakura stated.

Naruto completely forget his lunch date with Hinata, causing him to be embarrassed about making plans with Sakura.

Sakura stood there awkwardly. She knew she couldn't just tag along with Hinata and Naruto as they discussed their wedding plans. She had to get out of there fast.

"Sakura would you like to join us for lunch.", Hinata asked her eyes closed and her face revealing a genuine sweet expression.

"No thank you Hinata I am not hungry", she replied avoiding Naruto's eyes completely.

"Was there something you needed Naruto for, I don't want to interfere with official Konoha business over the wedding." Hinata replied.

"Oh no, I got the answer I need from Naruto", Sakura replied in a slight high pitched voice, she didn't expect it to come out like that but it did.

"If you too would please excuse me", Sakura said.

She hurried out of Naruto's office just as she heard Naruto's tummy grumble one more time, and sweet laughter fill the air.

"Why am I feeling…", she couldn't put a word to describe it as she walked past the secretary.

"Why do I feel so…grrrr", she stomped in frustration.

"What is it I am feeling?", Sakura screamed out loud.

"Maybe your jealous",

Sakura raised her head toward the sky a bit scared at where the answer had come from. She then turned to notice Kakashi-sensei.

He was sitting on the bench in front of the training ground. His trusty book in front of his face, he didn't even lift his head from the book, but still answered Sakura's question.

This caused a perplexed look to form onto Sakura's face.

Sakura silently mouthed the word to herself again and again. After saying it to herself a few times she spoke the words out loud.

. "Jealous… of Naruto and Hinata?"

'_I'm not jealous_.'


	4. LEEting Go

NOTE: Keep the reviews coming guys, I hope the story is going okay; the next chapter will have some Naru/Saku moments. I am hoping to add new chapters every other day depending on my mood to write.

Chapter Title: Leeting up

--

"I am Jealous"

Sakura punched a crater into the ground. She wanted to relieve her anger of not understanding her emotions toward the wedding.

'_How can I be jealous, why am I jealous, I don't have any right over Naruto. He is free to be with whom ever he likes.' _

This time Sakura knocked a tree causing it to snap in two like a tooth pick.

'_I mean it is not like I like him or anything I'm just jealous because we haven't spent any time together that's it.' _

She kicked a large stone and it broke into tiny miniature pieces.

"Someone is training extra hard today" a familiar voice broke her breaking rampage and caused her to turn her body around to face him.

She eased and smiled, "I see you finished your daily 30 mile jog early today, Lee."

Lee raised his hand and gave his famous smile and wink, "Hai, it was most stimulating you should accompany me one day Sakura-chan."

Sakura fell on her head.

'_I would die, before I finished_'.'

"Would you mind if I trained with you Sakura-chan", Lee asked blushing slightly as he kicked up some dirt.

"No not at all Lee, I could use the company.", she smiled lightly.

They trained hard for several hours, taking a break every one in a while to regain their strength. They trained until they could see the sun begin to dip behind the great mountains and figured it was enough for one day. They began to head back toward town when suddenly Lee asked her a question.

"Would you like to go out and maybe eat sometime Sakura when you aren't busy or tired or training or at the hospital..," Lee just kept going not finding a place to stop and catch his breath.

Sakura watched him as he talked, Lee like Naruto had grown out of his childhood looks. His once fuzzy eyebrows gone and his muscles were toned and fit like many of the other jounin his age. She couldn't help bug giggle at his request, Lee never grew out of chasing sakura around, and she learned to live with it.

"Well Lee" she began

Lee interrupted, "I know you might as well punch me into next week already."

"Thank you for the offer I will keep it in mind" she simply replied. She ignored his comment about punching him.

'_what is it with these guys, and me punching them.' _

Lee's face grew bright red as he stopped and threw his arms in the air,

"You didn't say NO! there is hope" with this he turned around and started to run back for the training field he screamed back at Sakura,

"I have to go for a light 10 mile jog, I will see you later Sakura."

Sakura let out a small laugh, "Baka."

When she reached her apartment she took a hot bath and got ready for bed, the night was still young but after her awareness today about being jealous and her tough training she wanted to get some rest and make up for the time she lost the other night.

She was laying down on her bed when a light knock came to her door.

"Oh, who could it be now," Sakura thought in frustration.

When she opened her she saw Hinata standing there. As not to seem rude she asked her to come inside and have a seat, while she made some tea.

Hinata graciously declined to come in and tea, as she was just there for a moment to inform Sakura about a dinner at her clan house tomorrow night.

"Sakura we would be so happy if you could attend tomorrow", Hinata said.

Sakura quickly noticed the ""WE" part but was sure Naruto didn't have much hope about her showing since Sakura had plans at the hospital tomorrow.

"I'll see what I can do, I'm not sure if I can make it", Sakura explained.

"Oh you promised you would come remember and besides almost all of our friends are coming, it will be so wonderful and I am sure it would hurt Naruto not having his best friend be there. Sasuke wont make it back in time, so if one of his best friends would show up it would be so pleasant." Hinata replied.

Sakura wanted a way out of it, but knew she couldn't miss something this big if everyone was going to be there, she would have to put her jealously aside and learn to get over it. This wedding was gonna happen where she was jealous or not.

"Yes of course I will be there", Sakura replied.

"Wonderful, it is a formal event so remember to dress up, just so you don't feel weird showing up in your training outfit." Hinata laughed.

With that she was out the door and off to tell the next group of people she could find.

Sakura made her way to her room and with a big sigh she dropped onto her bed.

'_Wear something nice, do I even have something nice, sigh what am I gonna do'_

She fell into a deep sleep; still a small ache grew in her heart.

The next day she bumped into Ino on the way to the hospital.

"Hey Ino where are you going in such a rush?" Sakura asked as Ino as Ino ran by her.

"I have to pick out something for Shikamaru; we are going to Naruto and Hinata's dinner tonight.", Ino replied as she was quickly out of sight.

Sakura brushed it off what Ino had said.

'So what if Ino had a date it wasn't like everyone was showing up with a date.'

As the day went one she however had more and more doubts.

Chouji is going with a jounin squad leader, Neji was taking Tenten, Shino was going with one of his ANBU member, and Kiba was going to escort one of Hinata's family friends. She soon realized she was the only one not taking someone.

Hell Tsunade-sama was even going with Jiayra, who came into town when he heard the good news about Naruto.

What was she going to do? She couldn't go if she didn't have a date, she would feel so stupid. She then noticed Lee walking outside the hospital window; without thinking what she would say she called out to him.

"Lee" she yelled causing him to look up a slight scared

"Oh hello Sakura" he yelled back waving his hand to the pink hair medic.

She had to ask him this quick in case he was going to turn her down she didn't want to be embarrassed. There was a chance he already had a date.

"Do you have a date tonight for Naruto and Hinata's dinner party?"

A twinkle grew in Lee's eyes, "Why no, I thought I would go alone"

There was a moment of silence.

"Would you like to go with me?" she asked half scared of his answer being yes and half scared of his answer being no.

Lee rose up his hand and gave his famous smile.

"I will be at your house at six", he squealed and ran off faster than the speed of light screaming she said "yes, yes yes yes, yes"

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at least she had a date, and wouldn't have to be embarrassed going on her own. She sighed heavily and went back to her work, placing her hand on the tower of papers stacked on her desk.

"This is gonna get interesting" she commented out loud.


	5. Pretty Pink

Hi guys sorry for the late update, I got an exam coming up so I gotta study. I really had fun writing this chapter, I hope you guys enjoy it, review and let me know what you think.  
_**Bold italics **_– song lyrics. (BTW: it isn't a real song I just made up some lyrics : )

Chapter Title: Pretty Pink

She looked at herself in the mirror and then turned toward the clock.

'_ten minutes till six.'_

She gave herself another glance as she stood to her feet. Her dress was long elegant red; she did not wear it often because she scarcely had any occasions to wear it to.

She had pulled her hair back into a fancy bun, her bangs hung out, giving her a mature look. She truly felt good about the way she looked. Growing up she knew she was not the prettiest, but tonight she felt different.

There was a light knock on the door. Lee was standing outside swindling with his shirt as he wanted to look super nice for Sakura. He knew deep down she would never love him that way, but he wanted to have a good time with her, and he feared if he looked like a dope that would not happen. When Sakura opened the door, Lee felt his heart jump out.

"Wow, ah you look, like sensational, and nice and wow", was all Sakura could make out from his uncompleted sentences.

"Thank you, Lee you look wow yourself," she giggled.

"Shall we?" he asked extended out his arm in a gentlemen form.

Sakura nodded as she shut the door behind her. She felt like she had butterflies in her stomach about going to this dinner. It would be the first time in a long time she would see all her close friends together for such a joyful occasion.

As Lee and her walked to the Hyuga clan house Lee decided to take some time and ask Sakura some questions.

"Sakura-chan why haven't you gotten a boyfriend yet?"

A large sweat drop came from Sakura's face.

"I never have time, and I guess it does not really matter to me."

Lee gave her a questioning look, "Oh I always thought you and Sasuke were you know…dating, but I never heard you officially call him your boyfriend."

Sakura stopped walking.

"Why do you think that, we are only good friends, I'm not the same girl I used to be. That silly girl who chased him around grew up."

Lee was a bit stunned at her answer. Everyone thought they were a couple, including Naruto.

'_I wonder if he would have asked Hinata to marry him if he knew Sakura wasn't taken?.' _

The rest of the walk to the dinner party was silent. Sakura began to wonder if everyone thought her and Sasuke were dating.

As they reached the door Sakura gently patted down her dress, she felt like a thousand butterflies were dancing around in her stomach and she had no idea why.

As Lee and Sakura made their way in both their mouths dropped open at the site. The entire house was decorticated with flowers, and soft music could be heard being played outside. As they made their way to the other side of the house Sakura could hear familiar voices.

"How troublesome to have to dress up and come out", Shikamaru replied in a lazy tone.

"Sssshhh do you want Hinata's family to here, or worse Neji", Ino barked back in a deadly tone.

"I am so happy for Naruto he got the greatest girl", Kiba sounded a bit down, but straightened up as his date took a sit next to him.

"Hi guys" Sakura and Lee waved their hands over to the group.

"Where is Hinata and Naruto, the guests of honor haven't arrived yet?" questioned Sakura.

"They should be here any…" Ino started but was cut off as triumphant sounded off. Everyone turned to face the door, as Hinata and Naruto made their way into the room.

Sakura felt her heart jump into her throat as she looked at Naruto. She had never seen him as handsome as he looked standing at the door.

He had on a black dress shirt that fit his body perfectly, and black pants to match. He had a tuxedo jacket with a tie, which gave him a sexy edge. His hair was in a usual mess, but it looked so appealing on him. The most perfect thing about him were his eyes, they lit up the entire room.

Hinata and Naruto made their way quickly through the room greeting all the family and friends that had come to see them. It was away into the night by the time they had arrived to Sakura and Lee's table.

"Hello Hinata…Naruto", said Sakura as she rose to her feet to greet them. She gave both a quick hug.

Naruto looked at Sakura and admitted to himself she looked beautiful tonight, but he couldn't stand around all night looking at her. He had given that dream up. He was getting married soon, and he had no concern of how Sakura looked.

"Thanks for coming, we know how demanding it gets at the hospital", said Naruto.

"Thanks for having me," Sakura replied eyes looking at the floor. At this point Lee came to stand by Sakura to greet Naruto and Hinata.

"You are here with fuzzy eyebrows," asked Naruto one eyebrow in the air. Naruto never let Lee live his childhood name down.

"Yeah who knew it could happen, but she said yes for once." Lee said not taken mind of the nickname.

Naruto let out a smile, and laughed a little, but as he turned to walk away he patted Lee on the back.

'_Can't blame a guy for trying.'_

The night went on and soon came the food and dancing. Choji was well aware to avoid Sakura who was chasing him around due to the amount of food on his plate.

"CHOJI do you want to get FA..." she stopped and put her petite hand over her mouth.

A large crowd screamed, "Sshhhhhh" before she could finish thank goodness. It could have been disastrous if she had called him F.A.T.

As she was making her way back to the table a worried looking Lee came rushing to her side. She could tell he had some grim news.

"Sakura, I am so sorry I have to do this, but I need to go on an urgent mission." Lee said in a rushed sentence.

Sakura looked up at him; his face was firm but filled with disappointment about having to leave.

"I understand a mission is more important than a silly dinner party, go and please be careful Lee."

He shook his head and moved toward the exit. He glanced back at Sakura and gave her a thumbs up for understanding and dashed out the door.

Sakura watched him go, and then turned back to face the dance floor. All the couples were on the dance floor, and all she wanted to do was go home. She wanted to be anywhere but here.

A gentle tap on her shoulder brought her from her thoughts. She turned around to see Naruto standing above her looking out on the dance floor.

"I heard Lee had to leave." He said not turning his head to look at her.

Sakura was still looking up at him. "Yeah, he had to go on an urgent mission."

"You didn't even get the chance to dance." He said.

"Its okay, no one said life was fair", she replied a little sound of hurt behind her voice.

Then something unexpected happened. Something Sakura did not expect in the least, Naruto stuck out his hand, which caused Sakura to blink her eyes a few times.

"Would you like to dance?"

She sat there looking at his hand and back at his face.

'_Would…I like to dance..?.'_

She placed her hand into his as they moved toward the dance floor, when they arrived a slow song started to play.

Sakura felt that maybe it would be awkward for Naruto to want to dance with her on this type of song. She was ready to take a step back when she felt Naruto's warm hands on her waist.

She lost all train of thought for a momentb ut quickly placed her arms around his neck, she however kept some distance between them as the song began to play.

_**I never knew what you meant to me  
I never knew you would always be  
the person deep within my heart  
that would catch me when I fell apart**_

She closed her eyes to enjoy the dance more; she didn't understand what was going on. She didn't understand why she suddenly cared so much about Naruto's plans to wed Hinata.

_**You took my hand and cared for me  
you believed when no one would believe  
I will keep you forever with me  
Please baby don't ever leave**__._

Sakura felt each word of the slow song burned into her heart. She felt like she wanted to cry right there on the dance floor. She wanted to open up her mouth and tell Naruto that she was feeling something she did not know how to explain.

'_I feel so warm, so cheerful and light in his arms'_

"Have you heard from Sasuke?"

Naruto's question about Sasuke pulled Sakura from her thoughts, as she pulled away from his embrace and locked eyes with him.

Her emerald eyes seemed to get lost into his blue ones as they swayed around the dance floor.

"Uhh no, but I am confident he is all right. You know how he is. Gaara will be coming back with him", Sakura replied.

Naruto smiled, "Gaara and Sasuke, hahaha remember back in the days when those two could have killed each other.", he shook his head.

Sakura took note of his smile and returned it with one of her own.

'_This is perfect'_

She never wanted him to be away from her, she never wanted to lose him, but in the recent days that was all felt, as if she was losing. She closed her eyes again as she placed her hands around Naruto's neck.

'_Am I falling in…_ '

"May I cut in", came a low shy voice.

Sakura's eyes opened wide when Naruto took a step back releasing the firm warm grip he had around her waist.

Naruto turned to look at Hinata. She stepped into the place where Sakura had been, but her body was pressed against Naruto's. Her month almost touching his ear, As Naruto grabbed a hold of her they spun around the dance floor. Sakura just stood in the same spot, almost in shock.

Sakura placed her left hand on her right forearm and rubbed lightly she had gotten so caught up being in Naruto arms she was sure she was blushing a cherry red.

_**I look deep into your loving eyes  
and I know that is where I belong  
Baby so many have come along  
But love you and me are going strong… **_

The music made Sakura's head spin. She would never know how to fully deal with letting Naruto go.

'I_ need to get out of here'_, she thought heading off the floor. The slow song faded into the background.

She walked briskly to the table, grabbed her things and headed for the door. She was mumbling things to herself as she made her way to the exit.

She was almost to the door, when a hand stopped her in her place.

"You look like you need this", said a man she did not recognize.

She shook her head, in a polite manner acknowledging she was not interested.

"It will ease whatever your feeling, taking a look at you it is clear to me you are upset."

Sakura looked down at the small cup the man was holding. She was never keen on drinking, but at the present moment she would try anything to stop feeling so damn confused.

She took the cup and took a quick shot, and handed it back to the guy. It burned as it traveled down her throat. Aching and soothing all in one mix. It was so strange.

"One more please…" she asked in hoarse dry voice. They guy gave her a small grin.


	6. Home sweet Home

Note: Thanks for the reviews. The next chapter will get interesting for Naru and Saku. I hope you guys like this chapter, hopefully I can update soon. Keep me motivated with those reviews. P.S. for those of you who don't know Baa-chan is the fifth Hokage.

Chapter 6 title: Home sweet home

Quite some time after her first drink Sakura was out on the dance floor with the same guy who had gotten her in her current unstable state.

"'I'm…so …sure the room is spinning" said a hyper almost drooling Sakura. She let out a high pitched snort giggling over and over again.

She was dancing all over the place to the fast pace music, her hands in the air. The older jounin had his hands on her waist and was clearly having a good time.

"Maybe you wanna get out here…get some drinks and we can dance at my house, or yours."

Sakura normally would have punched the guy's lights out for saying something like that, but in this case the sake had taken its affect.

"Ha, more sake? Sure we can dance all night long" she giggled

The jounin let out small laugh knowing he had hit the jackpot.

Ino tired all night to get Sakura away from that jerk, but Sakura wouldn't listen, the sake had taken its affect, but after she over heard the jounin's plans, she knew she had to do something drastic.

"If Sasuke was here, he would have taken care of it no problem", Ino thought.

Sasuke was however not back from his mission, the only other person that she knew Sakura would listen to was Naruto.

Ino hated thinking about ruining Naruto's night with a drunken Sakura, but she couldn't let anything bad happen to forehead. Ino frantically made her way around the large room trying to locate Naruto.

When she found him he was leaning against a wall talking to his future in-laws about new laws, and proclamations that would be in effect. He was barely paying attention his eyes were half closed from the boring conversation.

Ino walked right up to Naruto and clasp her arm around his.

"Oh there you are Naruto; I have been looking all over for you." Ino stated.

Naruto straightened up and took this as his chance to escape the issue of politics.

"Well you found me.", he turned to his future in-laws and bowed as a sign of his departure. The elders took note of his gesture and bowed back in respect.

As Ino pulled him away, they were quickly out of sight of the elders causing Naruto to let out a big sigh.

"Thanks Ino, I thought I was going to be stuck there the whole night, how can I ever repay you?" Naruto beamed unhooking his arm from Ino's, flashing his handsome smile.

"Well for starters Naruto…you can go save her.", Ino replied pointing toward Sakura on the dance floor.

Naruto turned to look toward the direction Ino pointed her finger, when his eyes met Sakura. He quickly deduced that she was heavily intoxicated, and the guy holding her did not have the best intentions in mind.

Naruto turned back to Ino an apparent angry look on his face. He nodded his head up and down letting her know he understood the situation. Ino also shook her head in appreciation.

The fast pace song died out, and a new slow song took its place. The older jounin was ready to pull Sakura in very close to him.

However at that very moment Naruto's hand came between him and Sakura, causing giggles to come out of Sakura's mouth.

"I think I will take her home", Naruto spoke in an angry tone.

"Naruto….hahaha I am a big girl I can walk home alone," she had her finger pointed in the other direction of were he was standing.

The older jounin took note of Naruto's irritated face and was quickly out of sight.

Sakura called out, "Well okay bye…uh…uh…hahaha I didn't even get your name." she giggled hilariously.

Naruto walked over and whispered into Hinata's ears, who turned to look at an extremely drunken Sakura. She nodded her head in understanding as Naruto made his way back over to Sakura.

"I don't wanna go, I wanna stay and party", Sakura stated as she headed back on the dance floor holding Naruto's hand.

"Wont you dance with me some more", Sakura pleaded whispering into his ear. She couldn't keep her balance and fell forward toward Naruto; luckily he quickly caught her in his arms.

She looked up at him, his ocean blue eyes full of concern for her. He propped her up right again, and dragged her toward the exit. He was evidently upset with her, and she didn't like that feeling one bit.

The walk back to Sakura's apartment was less than quiet. Sakura was running around the street being crazy almost stumbling over things. Naruto shook his head as they walked into the night.

' _I wonder if this is what baa-chan was like in her youth'_ thought a extremely tired Naruto.

The moon was out and shining beautifully above the city. Naruto treasured nights like this, he would climb on top of the highest building and gaze out into the sky. He would think about his life, his friends, and his dreams of becoming Hokage.

"Do you love her?" Sakura asked eyes wide in anticipation of his answer; this brought him out of his thoughts.

"You drank way to much Sakura.", he sighed.

"When did u stop chasing me around? You always chased me around remember those days and now Naruto your getting married. MARRIED, can u believe it…Baka", she snorted.

'_She really can't hold her liquor,'_ laughed Naruto.

The rest of the walk was quiet, well almost Sakura would start laughing at anything she saw. It scared Naruto a little. They were soon at her apartment steps and Naruto decided it wouldn't be a good idea to walk her all the way up. He said goodnight and turned to walk away.

"Naruto", came a tired voice.

"Will you walk me up stairs?" Sakura asked.

He turned around and looked at her. She looked so tired and sad, his eyes softened and he nodded his head up and down.

Naruto had to help her up the steps since she would begin to trip because she really could not keep her balance.

"I look so stupid don't I" Sakura asked without looking at him.

Naruto didn't know how to respond. He did not want to be completely honest nor did he want to lie so he remained quiet.

They arrived to the door and Sakura pressed her back against her door, and turned to face Naruto.

"You looked so handsome tonight Naruto."

Naruto looked at her again, curiosity filled in his eyes.

"Did, I? ", he questioned.

He placed his hand behind his neck and rubbed. He was feeling funny.

"Yeah the way you moved around the room, and how you danced with Hinata, you looked so cute in your tuxedo even though you hated being in it", sakura replied leaning toward Naruto a little.

"You look different to Sakura, not the same girl I remember." He also began to lean forward.

As both Naruto and Sakura inched closer to each other Naruto closed his eyes not knowing what to expect. And than all of a sudden…

THUD!

He quickly opened his eyes to find Sakura had passed out on the floor.

He sighed, shook his head and began to pick her up.

He found her keys in her purse and opened the door to her apartment. He found the switch and turned on the lights. Sakura's apartment was always super neat; he never knew how she did it.

Naruto lifted Sakura into his arms and placed her on the couch, he turned around to see a small desk lined with pictures. There was an old photo of team seven.

He picked up the old photo to take a better look at it.

'_If glares could kill Sasuke and I would be dead_'', he thought chuckling to himself as he placed the old photo down.

There were many photos of Sasuke and Kakashi and all their other friends. Naruto noticed there were no new photos of him.

'_No surprise there'_, he thought

Sakura shifted on the couch bringing Naruto back from his thoughts. Naruto noticed the jacket he had lent her on the couch. He reached over and grabbed it and decided it was time to head out.

As he walked away from Sakura he was jerked back. Sakura was holding on to one sleeve of the jacket very tightly.

"Please…don't take him away" she mumbled and turned over.

Naruto smiled and placed the jacket over her.

'_She looks so cute when she sleeps,'_ he thought.

He reached down to move a stray pink strand of hair from her face. Just as quickly as he had moved the strand of hair, he pulled his hand back hastily.

'_What am I doing… I am getting married, and I am still sitting here thinking about Sakura. This had to stop, I have to stop doing this she isn't mine, she is HIS. I wanted it this way, so I have to stop being there for her every second she needs me_.'

Naruto turned and left Sakura's apartment, he quickly made his way back to the dinner party. He went right up to Hinata, grabbed her by the shoulders and spoke in a firm tone.

"I can't wait months to marry you" he explained.

Hinata giggled, "Naruto honey it is okay it is not that far away and besides we have so…"

He cut her off mid way.

"No, I just can't wait, please Hinata I can't wait months, I don't even want to wait weeks. I want to marry you now."

Hinata looked into his eyes he wasn't making it up or joking around. He was very serious and his eyes were pleading with hers. She nodded in agreement, not knowing what else to do.

"Okay Naruto… if that's what you want", she replied. She gave him a quick kiss and hugged him tightly.

"We won't wait any longer."

Hinata closed her eyes and let her thoughts consume her as she stood wrapped around Naruto's arms.

Naruto looked out the window and saw the moon disappear behind the clouds, taking away the beautiful glow.

And so it was set Naruto and Hinata would marry in a week. The invitations were on the way to the press and would be handed out the next day.


	7. My Mistake

Note: Thanks for the uplifting reviews. Things may have to get worse for our loving duo before the get better. I will try to update soon. Let me know how you guys like this chapter.

Chapter Title: My Mistake

"Sakura-chan…Sakura chan", came a rough voice.

"hmmm… Naruto", Sakura muttered as she tossed around and opened her eyes.

Sasuke looked down at her; from the way she looked he knew she had a rough night. She was still wearing her evening dress and she looked like a mess. Pink strands of her hair were all over her face.

He stood to his feet from his crouching position and made his way back to the kitchen where he took a seat upon the counter top. He looked at Sakura from afar as she started to realize where she was.

"Oh Sasuke your home, that's good.", Sakura stated as she tried to get up but couldn't find the strength.

"Hn", he replied.

Suddenly Sakura placed her hand over her month. She could feel something traveling up her throat.

"Oh crap", she dashed for the bathroom; causing a large smirk to stretch across Sasuke's face.

She placed her face over the toilet and emptied out the sake from her system. Her head was pounding in a horrific manner.

'_I swear I will never drink again_.'

After she refreshed herself, she came back out to the living room, looking slightly better than before.

"What time is it?" she yawned, she wanted to climb back into bed and sleep away the day.

"Drink this", Sasuke handed her a glass that had a murky green substance floating around.

Sakura looked at the glass and than back at Sasuke.

"uhhh can I pass?" she gave him a questioned look.

"No, and its almost one O' clock you slept for quite some time Sakura", Sasuke replied.

Sakura grabbed the glass and took a shot quickly to lessen the pain of the disgusting drink.

As it made its way down her throat she wanted to run to the bathroom and puke it out, however Sasuke gave her a warning glance and she quietly gulped it down.

'_what a night',_ she thought

"So what happened?", Sasuke inquired.

"To be completely honest…I don't remember", Sakura admitted.

" All I remember is I had a date with Lee."

Sasuke burst into laughter…"Fuzzy eyebrows, you went on a date with Lee?"

Sakura threw him a look and he became quiet suppressing his constant laughs.

Sakura had to figure out what she was feeling about Naruto. She was so confused, she thought they were best friends but every since she has heard about this wedding she was feeling miserable.

"You should tell him", Sasuke stated as a smile formed across his lips..

"What?" Sakura questioned.

"You should tell him before it is too late. You have a chance to make it work. And I don't have to use my Sharingan to see how you feel about him."

"Sasuke I don't know what…", Sakura started but couldn't find the words to finish.

They sat in silence, until Sasuke pulled something out of his pocket.

"This came for you", he handed her a golden card and watched as she opened it.

"_**You are cordially invited to the wedding celebration of Uzamaki Naruto to Hyuga Hinata on Sat. July 22, 2015. Please join us in celebrating this joyful day…"**_

Sakura couldn't finish reading the invitation.

At that very moment Naruto was walking down the streets of the village being congratulated by several people.

He waved his hand around to greet the many people who were pleased to be invited to the wedding. This would be the largest wedding to take place in Konoha.

Sakura flashed through Naruto's mind as he stopped in front of her apartment. He thought perhaps he should check on her to see if she was alright, since she would be feeling the after effects of her wild night.

"Sakura, don't wait and let him get away, you love him", Sasuke explained.

Sakura clutched the invitation in her hands, and something happened as she let the invitation slip out of her hands onto the floor.

Sakura began to cry. A small tear at first and than her face was covered in salty crystals that rushed down her cheeks.

Naruto thought instead of knocking and having a weird conversation with Sakura, he would just jump onto the balcony and glance in, just to see if she was okay. He was more than sure the wedding invitation would have already arrived by now.

Upon reaching her balcony he peeked in just in time to see Sasuke take Sakura in for a hug.

Sasuke reached over and wiped away Sakura's tears, and took her in a long hug. She buried her face into his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck and began to sob.

Naruto looked in from the window at his two best friends.

When Sasuke embraced Sakura, all Naruto could see what Sasuke's back and Sakura's hands around his neck. Naruto did not know that Sakura was crying. The thoughts in his mind led him to believe the two were embracing each other in a loving manner.

He noticed the wedding invitation on the floor next to them.

'_I have to do something',_ thought Sasuke.

A tiny smile grew upon Naruto's face_. ' I always knew it'_ he thought as he jumped off the balcony.

Sasuke turned to look at the window he could have sworn he felt a presence.

' _I felt someone's charka_', however Sakura tears brought him from his thoughts.

After Sakura had cried her eyes out, and listened to what Sasuke had to say, she decided she had to find Naruto and tell him the truth.

She had to get this off her chest so at least she could say she had tried. Sasuke excused himself since he had training plans with Gaara.

"Gaara and I are training in the fields today; I won't be back until late. If I come back at all", he chuckled to lighten the mood.

Sakura gave him a small smile, "Don't kill each other."

As Sasuke made his way out of the apartment, Sakura took it as the opportunity to go speak to Naruto.

Sakura walked to the mirror and wiped away any traces of the tears she had cried. She was blessed to have a good friend like Sasuke in her life, after everything she had been through she never would have been able to cope with it if it hadn't been for Sasuke.

'_Sasuke always wanted me to acknowledge Naruto, even when all I did was chase after him. Naruto and I are lucky to have friend like him in our lives. He pushes us to be stronger. And know I can tell Naruto the truth, thanks to him_.'

As Sakura made her way to Naruto's office she actually felt better after Sasuke's yucky drink and their talk. She was gonna do this; she was going to tell Naruto how she felt.

She knocked gently on his door before she entered.

"Come in", said an irritated voice. Naruto did not turn to look up at Sakura.

"Hey Naruto, I just wanted to come by and say thank you for last night. I don't remember a lot of what I said and did, but I do remember you helped me home. "

Naruto still didn't look up from his papers and answered, "Yeah no worries that's what friends are for right."

"uhh yeah, well you are a great friend…and I just wanted to talk to you about something else. Its kind of important, It is about how I feel about.", Sakura started fiddling with her fingers.

"Sakura I really don't have time for this. I'm sure you know how busy I am with all this work, and to top that off the wedding has been moved up, I don't have time to play games.", Naruto responded placing his papers down onto the desk and walking up to her.

Sakura just stood there not knowing exactly what to do. She was dumbfounded by the way Naruto spoke to her; he never spoke to her like this before.

"I assure you I am not trying to play games Naruto, I wanted to talk to you about us…there…"

Naruto cut her off.

"Us?" he questioned

"There is no us…Sakura. So if you wanna talk about us, I would like you to refer to us and Hinata and I or maybe you should refer to Sasuke and yourself."

Sakura stood there taking in every word. She listened as Naruto ranted on about Sasuke and her, and all the times he had been left behind. It made Sakura angry that Naruto didn't understand how important he was to Sakura and Sasuke.

To hear him rant all this untrue things about Sasuke and her made Sakura do something, something she didn't even expect.

She raised up her hand and slapped him.

She slapped Naruto across the face.

It wasn't one of her playful slaps or the ones she did with her super strength, just a plain simply slap across the face.

"Enough…Naruto, enough.", she stated in a low tone, holding back her tears.

To Naruto this one small slap stung more than a thousand kunai's, it hurt more than a thousand jutsus, more than a thousand battle wounds.

"You don't even realize what Sasuke helped me understand about …"

Naruto briskly cut her off again.

"Is there anything else you needed from me?" Naruto asked coldly.

Eyes refusing to meet hers.

He made his way back to his seat and began shuffling through the papers. After a few moments when Sakura did not give him a response, he knew she had left.

' _Who knew letting go would be so hard_' , Naruto sighed rubbing the cheek that Sakura had slapped. It didn't even hurt him on the outside, but left a deep scar across his heart.

Sakura ran out of the building and in the process of running ran right into Kakashi, causing her former sensei to hit the ground.

"I'm so sorry Kakashi-sensei I was being clumsy again", Sakura extend her hand to help Kakashi get up.

He took it and immediately saw the distended look on her face.

"What's wrong Sakura, you look so down?"

"It's nothing Kakashi-sensei I just wish everything was the way it used to be, when we were younger."

"We?", he implied

"I miss the gang, and I wish I could go back to when Naruto…"

"Liked you?", he finished

"Don't give up so easily Sakura, you are a strong girl, I believe in you."

Sakura didn't want to hear anymore, she was done. She tried and she failed; she was done chasing Naruto. This was the end of what ever she hoped could happen.

"Excuse me Kakashi-sensei, I am needed at the hospital."

With that she continued on her way. She wanted to be left alone. She thought back to what Naruto said and how she had slapped him.

' _I got my answer_ ' she thought holding back any tears that dared to fall out.

Note: Gasp! What will happen to Naruto and Sakura now? Guess you gotta stay tuned to see what happens!.


	8. Uprooted

Note: I dont think Sasu/Hina will end up together, but everything will _hopefully_ work out for everyone. Sasuke and Kakashi are just looking out for Naru and Saku they just want them to be happy I understand it sounds kinda harsh for Hinata. I don't think I will have Hinata be caught messing around with someone else. I just want a good way to build tension between Naruto and Sakura, in order to make their love stronger.

Chapter Title: Uprooted

"Sakura, I can't believe that you got wasted last night", screamed Ino.

"You were all over the place, I tried to stop you, but you wouldn't listen to reason. If it hadn't been for Naruto, I don't know what you would have done."

The hospital was unusually slow today, so Ino was tagging along with Sakura as she made her rounds.

"Ino, shouldn't you be at the shop or something?", Sakura was not to happy about hearing how she made a complete fool of herself the other night.

But most of all Sakura didn't want to talk about Naruto, but Ino kept going on and on about the wedding.

"I wonder why they moved the wedding up, it seems so weird? You think they are that much in love that they cant wait?", Ino asked giggling.

"Ino I really don't care why they did, so can we just drop it!", Sakura snapped at Ino.

"Geez okay Ms. Grouch we don't have to talk about it, what's wrong with you?" Ino replied back.

"Look I'm sorry okay I just don't feel that well, and I really really don't wanna talk about Naruto or Hinata at the moment."

"Ha its not like you're in love with Naruto or anything, I don't see what the big deal is. ", Ino replied opening up a magazine she grabbed off the counter. She began to carelessly flip through it.

Sakura opened her mouth to respond, when she overheard a conversation that two nurses were having.

"Did you know they are looking for medic nins to help out on the border line this week?" said the first medic

"Yes I did hear that, but everyone wants to attend Naruto and Hinata's wedding. In which case the Hokage-sama has postponed the mission till the following week.", replied the second one.

Sakura had to get more details about the mission so she interrupted the conversation.

"Hello Riku-chan. I couldn't help but over hear they need help at the boarder lines of fire county from medic nins."

Riku nodded her head. "Hai, Sakura-chan I am sure you will be first in line to go when the mission leaves in two weeks. They could use someone with your amazing skills. But do not worry the mission is postponed until the week after Naruto's wedding so you won't miss a thing."

With that said Riku excused herself to check on her patients.

"Sakura…Sakura where, there you are I looked up from my magazine after I asked you wheatear you loved Naruto and you were gone. Scared you away, didn't I?" Ino laughed.

"Ino I have to go see Tsunade-sama immediately about a mission.",with that said Sakura left the hospital in a rush to the Hokage's office.

Sakura knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in", Tsunade responded.

As Sakura entered she noticed several piles of paper work stacked on the Hokage's desk. Sakura was sure they were mission notices or papers that needed to be filed that the Hokage hadn't gotten around to.

"Ah, Sakura…if you have come to get some training lessons I am afraid I have to reschedule it until later, I just can't seem to find the end to my desk, and until I do I can't…"

Sakura cut her off.

"Oh no Tsunade-sama I am not here to talk about training.", Sakura looked across from her, Tsunade was shuffling papers and trying to listen to Sakura at the same time.

"I am here to ask about the mission to the Fire country boarder"

Tsunade continued with her organization when she responded, "Ah yes I thought you would be, I will be sending out a team in two…

"I would like to go this week, like you had originally planned the mission for.", Sakura cut in, trying to avoid looking at Tsunade as she stop shuffling papers.

"Sakura…this week is Naruto's wedding."

"I know…but these people may need me. I want to accept this mission for this week. You know as well as I do that I am a good medic nin and I should be at the boarder line this week to help out.", Sakura responded swiftly.

Tsunade just looked into her emerald green eyes, and for the first time in a long time saw something she rarely saw in those eyes…pain.

"Well Sakura…if that is what you want. But are you sure, you do not want to wait until after the wedding."

"No…thank you Tsunade-sama I will make preparations to leave in two days.", with that said Sakura headed to the door.

'_That is two days before the wedding, it will give me enough time to stop thinking about…him._

As Sakura exited the office, Tsunade knew she had to get to the bottom of what was going on.

She picked up her sake cup and brought it to her lips, she raised the glass in the air, only to no surprise she was all out of sake.

She placed the cup down hard on her desk forgetting about the stacks of papers all over her desk. The large tower of papers swayed back and forth before slipping all over her office.

Tsunade opened her eyes in shock and screamed out as she placed her head on her desk, "FIND NARUTO NOW"

Kakashi who had been sitting outside the Hokage's office window reading his book waiting for a mission update did not have to be told twice as he disappeared in a flash.

He knew not to mess with the Hokage's temper.

Kakashi knew exactly where he would find Naruto at this time of day. He stopped in front of Ikura's Ramen shop and gave the old man a smile.

There sitting on the stool with a hot bowl of Ramen was Naruto.

"Oh, Naruto can I join you."

Naruto looked up from his bowl and gave Kakashi smile.

"Kakashi-sensei, sit down sit down, what will you have. Please it's on me."

Kakashi laughed slightly as he remembered the days when Naruto would try to con him into buying ramen and now Naruto was the one treating.

Kakashi happily took a seat.

"I'll pass on the food, thank you Naruto."

Naruto gave him a curious look.

'_Something is missing'_ he thought

"Your missing something Kakashi-sensei…what is…oh I know where is your pervy book?"

Kakashi closed his eyes in a smile, sometimes his former students knew him too well.

"Naruto, I want to ask you something?" Kakashi started

"Sure ask away", Naruto beamed

"Are you ready to get married?" Kakashi began

Naruto had to blink a few times to understand the question. He would have brushed it off if it was someone else asking, but looking at his former teacher and someone who was like a father to him, he couldn't just let it go.

"Yeah, I think I am. I don't see why I shouldn't marry", he answered not looking directly at Kakashi.

"I want a chance to be loved too…", he coaxed.

"You don't think Sasuke and Sakura love you?" he questioned

Naruto smiled, and stuck his chop stick into his noodle and swirled it around a little. He watched as the green onion rings bopped up and down in the ramen.

"They love me, but its not the kind of love I wanted from Sak.." he stopped and looked to Kakashi, hoping he hadn't caught what he was about to say.

"The Hokage would like to see you", was the response from Kakashi.

Naruto let out a mental sigh of relief.

"And Naruto look into your heart to find what you really want", in a flash Kakashi was gone; leaving Naruto to ponder on his words.

'_Wonder what baa-chan wants now'_ he thought as he made his way to the Hokage's office.

Naruto wasn't one for knocking so he just walked right in.

Her office was a usual mess, not that he could complain his office was the same way. He knew that Tsunade and he had a strong parental bond, but he couldn't help but make fun of her.

"Baa-chan you look like you need a drink", he laughed shaking his head.

"Shut up kid, and take a seat"

Naruto was quick to respond and took a seat in front of her.

"What can I help you with, need someone to take over the title?" he winked at her.

Tsunade gave him a lazy smile. "No this is about Sakura."

'_Not this again'_ Naruto thought.

"I have nothing to talk about when it comes to Sakura."

"Did you two get into a fight, or something, she seemed especially upset today?", Tsunade questioned

"No we didn't, everything is fine and great in the world. So if that's the reason you called me I guess we are done.", with that Naruto stood to his feet and headed toward the door.

"Than you must know she is leaving for the boarder lines in two days to help the medic nins" Tsunade responded before Naruto could walk out the door.

Naruto paused at the door, to finish listening to Tsunade.

"She won't be back in time for the wedding." Tsunade spoke in a softer tone. "Don't you think you will miss not having her there?"

Naruto didn't have a response. He just stood there with his back to Tsunade, until he found the words. "It is her choice." and with that he walked out.

'_It was always her choice_.'


	9. The Truth

Note: I really think it is gonna end up being just Naru and Saku, but I really do like Hinata I think she deserves someone too.

Chapter title: The truth

Sakura took care to avoid running in to Naruto but she knew she had to speak to Hinata about her decision to leave.

Sakura made her way to Hinata's house and explained her situation. Hinata had no choice but to understand why Sakura needed to go on this mission.

"I'm sorry Hinata, I am needed and as a medic nin I have to go. They need my help, and I couldn't just let it pass me by", Sakura explained.

"I understand Sakura, but it will hurt Naruto not having you at the wedding."

Sakura looked up at Hinata, not knowing what to say.

"You are lucky Hinata, you have such a wonderful person in your life, to love and take care of you."

Hinata looked at Sakura, who had a firm look upon her face as she spoke in a calm tone.

"Naruto loves you so much, and he can't wait to walk down the aisle with you. He won't have to worry about me, when you are the one he is marrying." Sakura gave a fragile smile.

"If you would excuse me, I have a lot of things to get done before I leave tomorrow." Sakura turned and headed for the door. She arrived at her apartment quickly where she fell on her bed and cried.

'_This is the way Naruto wants it I can't take being near him, and wanting him he is getting married, i can't ruin his happiness. __Yet again love makes you do crazy things…',_ was the last thing she thought as she drifted into a deep sleep.

She was quite exhausted due to the fact that she had went around the village earlier letting her friends know that she would be leaving on a mission, and would not be back in time for the wedding.

Many of her friends were stunned but brushed it off as Sakura's passion and dedication of being a fantastic medic nin.

When Sasuke heard the news he was quite concerned for her. She was putting aside her feelings for Naruto and that could lead to some complicated problems down the line. Sasuke knew better than anyone what it was like to keep feelings bottled up inside.

He invited Sakura to the meet him at the bar, no drinking intended for her but just a place for everyone to gather before she left for her mission.

Sakura agreed and thought it would be a nice thing to do before she left. Perhaps it would take some of the troubles off her mind.

What was unknown to her was tonight was a big night for Naruto as well. The entire gang was getting together for a party, something a little less formal than the dinner party, just a way to relax before the big day.

By the time Naruto had arrived most of his friends had already showed up.

"Hey man your late, Kakashi-sensei rubbing off on you", Kiba laughed

Kakashi peeked up from his book and gave a smirk. He had only arrived 30 minutes late tonight.

Ino and Shikamaru also came and greeted Naruto.

"We thought you skipped out", Shikamaru replied

"It is not like him to run away", came a deep voice from the background.

Naruto gave a little chuckle.

"Baka", as he put his hand up in the air and posed a thumbs up.

Gaara walked over and greeted Naruto, who in turn gave him a wide grin. Naruto and Gaara understood each other's childhood pain. They grew up in comparable ways and have an immense deal of respect for each other.

"What an honor to have the Kazekaga grace us with his presence", Naruto said as he bowed.

Gaara gave a rare smile, "Who is being the Baka now?"

As Naruto made his way around he bumped into Sasuke.

"Did you hear about Sakura?", Sasuke questioned.

"Yeah I did, it is a excellent thing she is doing, you should be proud.", Naruto replied

"You aren't even gonna stop her?" Sasuke questioned

"You aren't…why should I? She is a big girl right, I'm sure she will be fine."

Sasuke shook his head. He knew Naruto wanted to stop her but he wouldn't. He wanted to help his best friends but it wouldn't help solve the problem until they realized it themselves.

"You think it will make everything better by marrying someone else, you think you will let her go that easily, what about Hinata is that fair for her?", he whispered to Naruto as he turned and walked away. Not even giving Naruto the chance to answer him back.

Sakura stood outside the bar where Sasuke told her to meet him. She was set to go the next day, and wanted to spend some quality time with him and the rest of her friends.

She thought about Naruto and wondered if he even knew she was leaving; not that she felt he would care. She opened the door and walked in and to her surprise she saw someone she did not expect on meeting that night.

"Hey Sakura we are so glad you made it", Ino screamed across the room.

Sakura scanned around and met eyes with Sasuke who gave her the illustrious Uchiha smile. She made her way over to him.

"If I would have told you the truth you wouldn't have come", Sasuke said raising his hands in defense mode.

"At least you get the opportunity to say goodbye", he walked away from her giving her a warm-hearted glimpse as he made his way over to Kiba.

"Sasuke, you know this is a" she screamed after him but cut off when she saw Naruto across the room talking to Choji.

_'Push your pride aside Sakura….'_

Sakura gathered all her strength and walked over.

_'I am not weak'_ she thought

"Hi Choji I'm glad you feel better", Sakura beamed.

"Thanks to the most excellent medic nin I know", he replied raising his drink.

"Hello Naruto", Sakura turned to face him.

"Naruto looked at her and responded with a swift "Hello." The words that Sasuke spoke to him still floated in his head.

"I came to wish you best wishes on your wedding, I am going on a mission tomorrow and won't be back in time. I let Hinata know and she is having Ino fill in for me as the maid of honor, so you won't have any difficulty.", Sakura explained.

Her eyes scanned the room rather than looking directly at him.

"I see, well be safe on your mission and I will see you when you get back.", Naruto responded.

Now Choji was looking back and forth and found it was his time to go.

"If you two would please excuse me, I see some bar-b-que over there that is calling my name", Choji took his much needed exit.

Sakura let out a small sigh, "I'm sorry for…you know the other day. It got out of hand, I lost my cool."

Naruto as well apologized for his foolishness, "I am sorry…I should have let it go, it was out of line of me to say those things."

The looked at each other a small smile upon their faces. Sakura wanted so badly to say something, but she decided against it and changed to a different topic.

"Well I better get going, I leave early tomorrow", Sakura said turning her back to Naruto.

"Sakura…", Naruto started but decided against finishing what he intended on saying.

She turned around again sharply, "Yes Naruto?"

"I'm sorry you have to miss the wedding."

Sakura gave another small smile, "Me too Naruto."

She turned around once again her back turned towards Naruto.

Naruto stuck out his hand, but let it go limp to his side.

"Well get there safe Sakura", he stated as he turned his back to her as well.

They each stood there a moment, wanting to turn around and say something to each other so badly, but neither did; and with that both began to walk away never turning to look back.

Sasuke watched the scene unfold and let out a small sigh of disappointment, _'Sometimes those two are too stubborn.' _

Sakura closed the door to the bar; she took a step forward and bumped into someone.

Without even looking in fright of having the tears newly formed in her eyes fall out she quickly apologized and swiftly ran off toward in the direction of her apartment.

What Sakura failed to notice was it was Hinata who she had bumped into; Hinata watched Sakura run into the night and stood watching her until she was out of sight.


	10. When You Went Away

Note: I'm very happy with this chapter, depending how the reviews go I would hopefully like to update soon. Thanks for those of you who encourage me to keep writing: p much appreciation.

Chapter: When you went away

--

Sakura looked around her apartment. She knew she wasn't going for a long time but she couldn't help but feel like she was leaving something significant behind.

As she scanned around the room she laid her eyes on the invitation for Naruto and Hinata's wedding. She let out a weary groan; she thought that saying goodbye to Naruto would give her some kind of closure, but much to her luck that wasn't what she was feeling.

She placed the invitation down on her counter and headed toward the gates of Konoha.

Sasuke was already waiting for her, along with her small team that was to accompany her on the mission.

"You don't have to go Sakura", Sasuke started but Sakura was not ready to stop.

"I will be okay Sasuke. Thank you for being the best friend I needed."

Just than a voice could be heard coming toward the small group.

Lee came running into view. "Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan"

Sakura turned around and gave him a warm smile. Lee ran right up to her, not one sign of being out of breath.

"Thank you Lee for coming to see me off"

Lee blushed slightly. "I wanted to see a good friend off on a mission. I couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye."

Much to everyone's surprise Sakura did something unexpected. She leaned in and kissed Lee on the check, causing him to turn a fiery red and take off in full speed in the other direction.

"BE safe on you mission!!" was all that could be heard as he ran off into the distance.

Sasuke and Sakura both let out a laugh, and then it turned an eerie quiet.

"I will be okay, I promise. I need to be away or I won't be able to make the hurt go away." she said to him.

Sasuke was looking down the road, this is the same place she had tried to stop him all those years ago.

Sasuke didn't turn to look at her but he understood.

Sakura took one step ahead of Sasuke gripping the ends of her backpack tightly. She nodded her head in the direction of her other two teammates and was gone in an instant, leaving a swirl of leaves to dance in her place.

'_This is it'_ she thought.

The journey to there destination was faster than Sakura thought it would be. The actually location she had been positioned was about two hours out of Konoha.

As soon as her team arrived they set up camp and went right to work helping train other medic nins on special techniques.

Sakura convinced herself that this was the best way for things to happen. She wasn't going to worry or even think about the wedding. She wanted Naruto out of her mind just has much as Naruto wanted her out of his.

For the next two days everything went by in a great rush. Sakura had her work cut out for her, but what killed her the most was lying wake at night looking at the stars and thinking of how if she only told Naruto the truth about how she felt.

'_Would it have made a difference? It would have only jeopardized our friendship.'_

She looked up at the stars; they seemed to blanket the dark sky with a graceful glow. It was so beautiful to lie out in the country and view the stars.

As her teammates slept in peace Sakura just marveled at the beauty of the night until a thought occurred to her.

" _It would be a full moon tomorrow, Naruto's favorite …he would most likely wish to sit up on the highest building and stare at it."_

However Sakura aslo knew that the wedding was tomorrow and he wouldn't get the chance.

The next morning brought a great deal of mixed feelings for Sakura.

The day of the wedding had finally arrived and in the back of her mind Sakura wondered what it would be like back in Konoha, she knew the entire city would be in an up roar.

A small smile crept to her lips, she knew Naruto all too well. In battle he was the heroic type, but in situations like this she was sure he was scared as ever.

Back in Konoha final preparations were being made for the wedding. The flowers were being brought in and the cake was being set up. Everything was going perfectly; this would be a grand day indeed.

The villagers were thrilled by the amusement in the atmosphere. Many people now believed that Naruto would make a wonderful Hokagae and knew when the day would come he would be the first choice to protect this village from harm.

Just as Sakura had predicted, Naruto was a nervous wreck.

He was pacing back in forth in the large room, the pace marks were becoming permanently imprinted on the floor.

All of the guys were huddled in the room trying on their suits, they wanted to looking extremely handsome for the wedding which could lead to one of their own. A few were concerned about tripping or freezing, but no one was as worried as Naruto.

Naruto and Hinata wanted all their friends to be a part of the wedding somehow. Now that Sakura was gone Ino would fill in, thus leaving Shikamaru without someone to walk down the aisle with. He however didn't seem to mind in the least, truly he was quite happy.

'_I don't get stuck standing the whole ceremony'_ he snickered as he looked around the room

"I hope you don't mind Shikamaru not being a part of the wedding and all." Naruto started

"Yeah I can't believe I won't be a part of it, too bad I will just have to sit down and watch the whole time" he replied, a mental smile growing in his mind.

"Guys do you mind giving us a moment" came a coarse voice.

Everyone in the room turned to face one of the Legendary Sannin. They nodded their heads and left the room, closing the door behind them.

"Well didn't think I would see the day", Jiayra said snickering

"Your father would have been proud of you Naruto; you look so much like him."

"Guess I can't really give you one of my books as a wedding present now can I?

Naruto smiled, "Guess it is your turn next pervy Sage..to settle down?"

Jiayra gave him wide eyes. "No way! The Legendary Sage will not settle down…"

Naruto expected that answer, as he fiddled with his tie. He knew his sensei all to well.

"…Not until Tsunade agrees anyway."

Naruto turned around to face him, as the last part of his sensei's sentence registered into his brain.

He always thought there was something between baa-chan and pervy sage but he never knew he had been waiting for her the whole time.

"All this time…you've been waiting for…her?"

Jiayra looked toward him and nodded with a majestic look on his face.

"My writing takes me far away Naruto, and sometimes my uh… research takes a lot out of me, but I would trade it all for Tsunade."

"Some things are worth hearing NO everyday of your life for, she was one of them", he responded

Naruto stopped tugging at his tie and put his full attention to his sensei.

"She has said NO for so long, the day she says yes might as well kill me. But after forty some years what can you do. We have had this hate-love…well hate relationship. I love her and she loves me, we never just got around to saying it. I waited for her and she waited for me, and we just kept waiting…and well here we are."

Naruto blinked his eyes in amazement. '_They loved each other, but never said anything. They just let it go for all these years'_

"Do you regret it pervy sage, not telling the girl you loved the truth?"

Jiayra opened his mouth to respond but was cut short when the door opened wide.

That very moment Tsunade made her way in.

"Naruto, I just came to give you one last hug. I am so proud of you, and I want to wish you the best in your new life." she hugged him tightly.

To Naruto it felt like the way his mother would have hugged him if she was alive. He wrapped his arms around her.

Upon this sight Jiyara walked over and hugged Tsunade while she was hugging Naruto, causing her to open her eyes wide and blush slightly. They stood there for a moment more and released.

"Well Jiayra and I better start getting ready; we don't want to delay you or anything."

"You baka lets go" Tsunade turned to Jiayra and gave him a light punch, causing him to hit the wall ten feet across the room.

He collected himself. "Geez women you might as well beat me all they way to his wedding"

"See why you do you have to start a fight?"

"Tsunade you started."

"Did not!"

Naruto laughed as he heard them walk down the hallway, leaving all of his groomsmen with perplex faces.

"Maybe we should bet on the wedding.." was the last thing he heard Jiayra say as he turned the corner.

Jiayra turned his head back and gave Naruto a wink before he was out of sight.

Sasuke walked in looking quite dazed. He was wearing a formal suit, all the girls of Konoha had been chasing him around all day, he was quite tired trying to evade them, yet he was moving around not being able to sit still.

The appearance on his face alerted Naruto that he was thinking about something other than the wedding.

Naruto looked out the window, the sun was setting and the ceremony would begin soon. There would be no turning back.

He walked over and patted Sasuke on the shoulder; Sasuke gave an appreciative nod for Naruto's concern and assured him he was fine; but deep down he knew what he was thinking about. His only hope was that it would work in time.

Note: The wedding is here! But No sakura in sight! Does Naruto get cold feet, does Sakura stop the wedding?! Any ideas? Gotta keep reading to see what happens


	11. Time after Time

Note: Cool the last chapter got some great reviews, I'm so happy! I wanted to show some bonding and understanding between Naruto and Sasuke, but it plays a big part in helping Naruto understand his love for Sakura! Thanks for the wonderful reviews and I hope you guys are happy with how the ending will turn out!

Chapter title: Time after Time.

-

Naruto felt like his tie was choking him as he undid his first button on his collar. He was already in his wedding suit, and he felt so hot and stuffy. Naruto wasn't one for fancy clothes, but the occasion called for it so there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Nervous?"

Naruto turned to meet eyes with Sasuke who was leaning against the wall, very calm and collected. Naruto didn't know how he did it, whatever the situation was Sasuke always had it all together; he always made it look so easy, and Naruto envied that.

"Can you tell?"

Sasuke put on a small smile. Naruto could be dense sometimes, well a lot of times, but after risking everything to bring Sasuke back, he had a great deal of admiration and respect for him.

The wedding was only a few hours away, and Naruto could feel the butterflies in his stomach began to dance around.

The rest of the groomsmen were out in the wedding hall practicing, just Naruto and Sasuke remained in the large room.

There was a moment of silence, until Naruto asked a questioned that even troubled Sasuke.

"So Sasuke, when do you plan to tie the knot?"

Sasuke gave Naruto a perplexed look, he was about to answer when Naruto continued to speak.

"I learned you shouldn't wait for what you want. You should marry her as soon as she comes back, if you love each other so much there isn't much point in waiting. I am sure Sakura would make a wonderful wife."

It was that very moment that brought everything together for Sasuke. Naruto believed Sakura and he loved each other more than friends. This was the reason he was prepared to marry someone else rather than the girl of his dreams.

Sasuke kept his cool exterior.

"I will get married…"

Naruto looked at himself in the mirror not expecting to feel so bothered about Sasuke and Sakura's plans to wed.

"When I find the right girl."

Naruto turned around sharply not understanding what Sasuke had meant.

"What are you talking about I thought…", Naruto started

"Thought what…that Sakura and I…were in love with each other", Sasuke asked moving toward Naruto.

Naruto just stood there with his face in a strange expression.

"Just because Sakura and I spend time together doesn't mean we are in love with each other, at least not in the way you thought Naruto. We are all best friends, and even a blind man could see the way you have always felt about her. Do you think I would do that to my own brother, take away the love of his life?"

Naruto just stood there confused as ever, everything he thought about Sakura and Sasuke had been untrue. They weren't in love with each other. Did this mean he had a chance to fix things with Sakura?

At that moment the Hyuga clan leader, Hinata's father entered into the room.

He asked Sasuke if he could have a moment alone with his future son-in-law. Sasuke exchanged looks with Naruto, he wanted to speak up and tell Naruto to tell the truth, he turned and walked out the door. He knew as much as he wanted to it was not the proper way of going about things, especially when it concerned a clan head.

Hinata's father shut the door and turned to face Naruto, "Well Naruto I first off must admit…I was uncertain about you marrying my daughter."

Naruto locked eyes with the Hinata's father and could almost feel the truth in those words. However Hinata's father's face changed into a soft smile.

"After all, you were once feared as the container of the demon fox. But after the way my daughter spoke about you, and reassured us that you would make a wonderful husband, and member in this family I was convinced you would too. Someday maybe you will understand when you have a child of your own; all you really want is for them to be happy. You have given that to my child and me.

Naruto felt his heart jump up and down; he was feeling so many different emotions he was so confused about what was going on.

"I place the responsibility of my daughter into your hands, please take care of her Naruto, she really loves you."

Those words hurt Naruto the most.

What was he thinking about Sakura for; he was supposed to marry Hinata. It was too late to back down now, Hinata had done so much for him, and how could he just leave her at the altar.

Her father just accepted him into the family. How could Naruto just break her heart by running after Sakura now.

His chance with Sakura had come and gone and now, and well now it was about his responsibility; the responsibility he had to Hinata.

"Yes sir, I understand," Naruto shook his head and watched as Hinata's father exited the room.

Sasuke entered the room once again an anxious expression on his face. Naruto closed the door behind him and placed his back on the door. He slid down until he reached the floor, and just sat there with a heavy heart. He turned to look up at Sasuke, who had opened his mouth to ask Naruto something. Naruto just put his hand in the air to stop him, and placed his head down to look at the floor.

"I am going to marry Hinata."

Sakura looked around the campsite; she had checked on almost all the ninjas that were injured. She had quite a hectic day the time seemed to just fly by.

She checked her watch the wedding would be starting in about two hours. She knew she hadn't thought about the wedding all day by keeping busy, but it was really getting to her now.

Her body was exhausted from all the work she was doing but her mind was racing with so many thoughts.

However a voice brought Sakura out of her thoughts.

"Sakura, there is a ninja in the corner over there, he is from the village of the mist, would you like to check his wounds please?" asked a fellow medic nin.

Sakura gave a small smile and headed toward the wounded ninja's direction.

He was slouched against the corner of the camp site. He didn't have any outer damage that Sakura could see, but she still headed toward him. He looked up at her and then looked away.

"Leave me alone please."

Sakura stared at him with wide eyes.

"I won't bother you I just thought you might need some healing help.", she said giving the stranger a small smile.

"The kind of pain I feel, even a medic nin can't heal", he responded not looking up from the spot he was staring at.

Sakura was surprised by his answer and took a seat next to him.

"What is the matter, I can try to help you…if you just tell", she started

"NO! No one can help me now…she's gone away, and that won't change. He turned to look at Sakura.

"Tell me can you cure a broken heart?" , he yelled

Sakura stayed quiet for a moment. "I can't cure broken hearts…trust me I have tired."

He let out a small laugh, " I wouldn't want it cured anyway I love her that much, to keep her pain is still enough for me."

Sakura turned to look at the unknown ninja; his face looked tired his eyes were a deep onyx black. He had little scars a long his face.

"What happened?", Sakura asked

"I loved her…I never said anything. I just watched her day in and day out. I didn't understand that it was love, she waited and waited for me to say something, but I couldn't…I didn't, and she left. She found someone that would be there, and she left never turning to look back.

Sakura just sat stunned at what she was hearing.

"I thought she would wait for me, I realized I loved her so much but it was too late. Seeing her with someone else tore my heart apart, I had to leave I had to get away from my village…in a way I ran away from her."

Those words cut through Sakura a thousand times. Something just snapped inside her.

She stood to her feet and ran. She ran out of the camp site and toward home. She didn't know what she was doing all she really knew was she had to get back to Konoha, she had to tell Naruto even if it killed her.

The unknown Ninja looked toward the direction Sakura had run; he gave a tired smile, and in a single moment disappeared in a puff of smoke. It was like he was never even there.

At that very moment Kakashi have Sasuke a firm nod, causing a smile to grow on Sasuke face.

'_Let's hope it was in enough time.'_ he thought as the guests began to sit themselves in the wedding hall.

Sakura felt her heart racing as she jumped from branch to branch.

She felt the wind rushing to her face; her heart was beating twice as hard.

She glanced down at her watch less than half an hour till the wedding started and she was almost a full hour away.

'_Will I make it'_…


	12. Think of me

I thought this would be my final chapter, but I guess I have to spilt it up, so when you read the end of this one please don't kill me okay! I am so happy that I have almost completed my story! Let me know what you guys think! Thanks guys.

Chapter time: Think Of me

He tried to breathe in even paces, on the exterior his face was calm but inside his heart it was like a roll-a-coaster.

Naruto looked down the isle; he hadn't seen such a large gathering since the third Hokage's funeral. He was truthfully feeling nervous.

The clan leaders were all seated, next to baa-chan and pervy sage. Many high officials from other neighboring villages were also attending.

Naruto wanted the children from the orphanage to be there for his wedding as well, he saw a bunch of kids running around in the back. He was the only one waiting up at the alter and than he heard something that made his heart speed up…the music to announce the start of the wedding.

The bridesmaids and groomsmen all walked out in there paired order. Everyone stopped chit chatting amongst themselves about the outfits or the decorations and placed their full attention toward the couples.

Naruto than saw Sasuke offer his hand to Ino, who gladly accepted it. As they made there way down Naruto was having reoccurring thoughts about the whole week.

He thought about his dates with Hinata, his talk with Kakashi-sensei, his chat with Pervy Sage. He looked at Sasuke, who deep down he loved like a true brother, and than his heart did something he didn't expect.

He truly thought about Sakura. He thought about all the times she had beat him up, and all that times he was there for her when she cried. He thought about why he hadn't told her that he truly cared for her, more than anything else in the world. He couldn't grasp it he even tried to get rid of it, but his own heart couldn't explain to him why he cared so much about her.

By the time he came out of his thoughts, Hinata was already half way down the isle. As she made her way up Naruto extended his hand out to take hers. She gave him a quick smile and turned to face the priest.

Naruto thought she looked beautiful, and no matter how he felt about Sakura, he had to marry Hinata. He owed her that much, he would learn to love her someday the way he loves…loved Sakura.

The priest began to speak and Naruto blocked all thoughts out of his mind.

"Dearly beloved, we are all gathered here today on this joyful occasion to wish Uzumaki, Naruto and Hyuga Hinata wonderful blessings on their marriage. "

"Naruto will you promise to love, honor, and respect Hinata in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer as long as you both shall live?"

There was a moment of silence. Naruto closed his eyes and opened them again. He felt like he forgot what he was supposed to say. He turned to look at Hinata, and than back at the priest.

"I-I do…" responded Naruto sheepishly.

It took Sakura a little less than an hour to make it back to Konoha, which was excellent speed for her.

'_Lee would be proud'_ she thought on a light note.

She was rushing toward the wedding hall just to speak to Naruto and let him know how she felt. She didn't care what people thought, what she did care about was telling Naruto the truth.

She knew she could lose him but not telling him would haunt her for the rest of her life. She couldn't keep running or hiding from the truth. She just had to make it on time, she hoped and prayed she would make it on time.

She went running into the wedding hall even forgetting that the ceremony would be taking place. As she stood there in the middle her mouth dropped open.

"Everyone is….gone?" she stood there in the middle of the empty room.

She was too late, she didn't make it back in time and now it was too late. She took a seat on a chair and just started out the window.

Small tears swelled up in her eyes.

"I let him go…I didn't even tell him how much I lo..and know he is… and I'm…" she placed her hands into her face to stop the tears from falling.

"Back for your gift..."

Sakura's eyes widen when she hurried that voice, she jumped to her feet and turned around, and wiping any signs of tears she had cried.

"What…what are you doing here…I thought." she began. She felt like she couldn't even speak full sentences.

"I thought you would come back, so I waited."

"I thought you would be gone…with…" Sakura started

"Naruto?" Hinata finished.

Hinata walked over and took a seat in the chair that Sakura had risen from, Sakura lingered above her still in shock that she hadn't left the wedding hall with her new husband.

**Flashback to wedding **

"I-I do…", Naruto replied.

The priest turned to look at Hinata.

"Do you Hinata take Naruto to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, as long as you both shall live?

Another moment of silence passed. Hinata looked at Naruto and looked deep into his eyes; she smiled slightly and responded in a soft tone.

"I-I…don't."

These two little words caused loud gasps and awes to be heard throughout the crowd. Naruto turned to look at the hundreds of wide eyes that were looking at him, and than back to Hinata. Even Naruto's face had a bewildered look.

"I can't."

She turned to look at Naruto, who never looked more handsome to her than he did today. "

"I love you, Naruto Uzumaki, but to not let you have a chance to be with your true love would be a burden on my heart for as long as I live." said Hinata.

She looked toward the crowd and than back at him.

"Maybe we should speak in a little less…crowded space?"

She grabbed his hand and walked back up the isle. She threw her bouquet over her head, and it landed in Ino's hands.

Ino who also had a confused look on her face, looked down at the bouquet, and towards Shikamaru, who put his hand to his face and melted into his seat.

As Hinata passed her father, she gave him a firm nod and he just gave her a slight nod back, as if he understood what his daughter was doing was the best thing for her and for Naruto as well.

They stepped outside the main hall and into the hallway, Hinata shut the door behind her, as she heard numerous footsteps behind the door.

She figured some guests were pressing their ears into the door to listen. She turned around to face Naruto who just stood there looking at her.

She ran her hands down her dress, trying to straighten a crease that wasn't' even there.

"Hinata..I." Naruto started.

"It is okay Naruto, You can't help who you fall in love with," she walked toward him, she straighten his tie avoiding his beautiful eyes.

He raised his hand up to her face, most likely to stroke her cheek, but she stopped him.

"I-I always knew deep down inside, you never let go of a love like that, trust me I know." Hinata said in a small sad smile.

"I can't, I won't be a burden like that to you. How could I keep you away from the only person you ever opened your heart too. You were all set to marry me even though you love someone else; don't you think I love you enough to let you have a chance to be truly happy as well? I need you to see, what you are forcing to hide…the love you feel for her will never die Naruto. "

**End Flashback **

Hinata opened her eyes and looked at Sakura.

"Do you remember I asked Sasuke and you what would be the best gift to give Naruto?"

Sakura nodded her head still in shock that Hinata was not with Naruto.

"I decided on what to give him….and you are the best thing for him Sakura." she smiled toward Sakura

Sakura couldn't stand anymore and took a seat next to Hinata; she fell onto the seat in utter shock.

"I'm sorry Hinata; I tried to fight these feelings for him. I don't understand how it happened, it just did, I fell in love with him and I didn't even know it."

Hinata have a small giggle, "That's easy to believe it isn't hard to fall in love with Naruto, trust me I know. I am sure there are plenty girls in love with him.", she stopped laughing,

" I couldn't do it, not knowing that I would take his true love away from him, you two have a love that will never compare. "

Sakura turned to face her. Hinata turned to face Sakura as well both looked at each other for what seemed like hours.

"Go Sakura…find him, I heard him speaking to Tsunade about going on a long journey maybe to get away from the pain of losing you, you have to tell him you love him before it is too late.

Sakura gave Hinata a small nod and ran for the door; she turned around and gave Hinata a small smile.

"Thank you…Hinata for everything." she said as she ran out.

'_I have to find him…'_

Hinata watched as Sakura ran out the door. She wanted to cry but knew this was the way it was meant to be. She stood to leave when a voice stopped her.

"Hinata-chan would you care to take a walk with me?" Kiba asked in a shy voice.

Hinata gave a shy smile and nodded.

"Yes, Kiba…I would love that."

He extended his arm out to her and she gladly accepted and the two strolled out of the wedding hall together.


	13. Your Happy Ending

OMG this is it, I am thinking about writing another one, it would be something dramatic! I don't know we'll see, thanks for reading my story, I am happy for all the reviews and I am just glad to get this idea out of my head and on fanfiction. Let me know what you guys think, and I think I will (depending on people take this last chapter) write a epilogue.

- - Your Happy Ending

Sakura was running as fast as her legs could carry her, she could feel the tight squeeze in her chest, as every breath she took burned on its way out.

Her legs throbbed, and she knew from her medical experience the next few days she would be extremely sore. But she fought the urge to stop; she was in a rush to reach Naruto's apartment, before he left.

As she ran down the streets of Konoha several villagers gave her a bewildered look.

Sakura tried to dash past a few children who were out playing in front of the orphanage, but stopped when she heard a small faint cry.

She turned to find a little girl sitting on the step holding her ankle.

Sakura knew stopping would waste time, but the little girl needed her help.

Sakura bent down in front of the girl and raised her hand in the air above her wound and began to heal it.

The little girl moved her hands from her face, and smiled at Sakura. Her leg felt better and as soon as Sakura had finished she looked down to see no signs of the wound.

"Arigato", the little girl's voice was as soft as mouse.

She turned to skip away from Sakura, who smiled at the little girl's innocence.

Her smile disappeared when she remembered that she could lose Naruto if she didn't make it in time.

Once again she ran off toward his apartment, in minutes she could see the tall building in sight. In her mind she was so relived as if she had already told him how she felt and that everything would be okay.

She raced up the steps and was in front of his wooden door.

She stopped for a moment as straightened herself out and knocked gently on the door.

She waited and than knocked again, and again. After her fourth knock she refused to believe he wasn't there.

She placed both hands on the door, and just stood quietly for a moment. If she knew Naruto at all she knew he wouldn't have…

She reached for the door knob and it clicked open.

'_Baka didn't lock his door'_

She gave herself a mental note to scold Naruto for being so forgetful.

She stepped into his apartment and clicked on the light switch. She was prepared for a disgusting site, but instead was quite surprised to see it semi-neat.

You couldn't blame Naruto for having empty bowls of Ramen around the house; he loved it more than life.

"Naruto…" she called out

The room remained silent.

She tried again, little hope in her voice. "Naruto…"

Again the room was an eerie silent.

Sakura held the tears in she refused to cry. Maybe he hadn't left; maybe Hinata heard wrong, maybe he was out getting some air.

Sakura ran into his room and turned on the light, she didn't care about manners or being proper she just had to find him.

His room was neat as well, his tuxedo from the wedding was laid out on his bed, and his closet door was open. Sakura could see a few pairs of clothes missing from it.

It was true. Naruto had left Konoha, and Sakura didn't even know where he was going or how long he would be gone for.

Than a thought crossed her mind that scared her to death.

'_what if he begins to move on, what if he falls in love with someone else?'_

Sakura couldn't take it anymore, she had been through hell and high water and to end up letting him slip through her fingers caused all the pent up anger and tears to flow freely.

She couldn't stop the tears even if she wanted to; they just feel down her cheeks.

She turned to look on his desk and found an old picture of team seven, it was the very first one they had taken as a group.

She picked it up and sat sluggishly on his bed, adjacent to the window. She looked wearily at the photo.

"I am sorry Naruto" she said to the photo

"I am sorry for all those times I was mean, and seemed like I didn't care, I loved you so much, it just took all this time for me to realize how I truly felt about you.", she raised her hand so it gently rubbed against the frame above Naruto.

Her tears fell onto the photo as she pressed the photo close to her throbbing chest.

"I just wish, I just wish I could tell you right this moment that I love you, and that I need you in my life. But your gone…your just gone. ",she sobbed holding the picture tight.

She placed it down on her lap and looked loving at it, like it was the most important thing to her. This was all she had left of Naruto.

She looked out the window, and stared at the mountain that had all the Hokage's faces. She smiled a small sad smile as she thought about the day Naruto would become Hokage. Where would they be then, how could she ever let go of the love of her life?

"Please…please, I just want to tell him I love him." Sakura whispered as if she was asking the Hokage's for help.

She reached her hand up to wipe away a tear when…something truly amazing happened.

Now some people call them miracles or fate and others call it pure chance, but whatever it was it made Sakura realize something important.

The dark clouds in the sky were breaking apart and a small glimpse of light could be seen shining toward the Hokage Mountain. As the clouds continued to break, the sight of the brilliant full moon could be seen high in the sky.

"The…moon?", Sakura said out loud, wiping away the tears quickly from her face.

She stared at it for a moment longer, and in split second she placed the photo on the edge of the bed as she dashed for the door that led out of his apartment.

It was a full moon tonight, and if she had to bet her life on it, she knew exactly where Naruto would be if he was still in the village.

_'I hope he is still there, this is my last hope'_ she thought as she titled her head up to make sure the moon was really there and not her mind playing tricks on her.

Sakura was running toward one particular building if he hadn't left he would be up there thinking about everything that had happened.

She climbed the steps not stopping to take a breath until she reached the door that lead to the roof entrance.

She hesitated for a moment cursing herself for bringing her hopes up again.

'_What if he wasn't there?' _

She swung the door open…only to see nobody was there. She looked out over the village and moon in disbelief. She wanted to cry again, she wanted to scream and yell and punch something so hard with her fists.

She took a few steps out onto the roof, her head hanging low in defeat.

"Please leave me alone" called out Naruto, his voice in anger.

Sakura's head swung up in an instant, and there on the side of the roof looking out over the village was Naruto.

She tried to speak, but no words seemed to come out of her mouth, she just stood frozen scared thinking she was having a hallucination.

Sakura took a few steps toward Naruto. His back was still turned to her when he called out again.

"I said please leave I do not wish to see anyone right now."

Still Sakura continued to walk toward him, not moving her eyes for a moment from his figure. She was almost behind him, when yet again Naruto's voice filled the air.

"I said…just leave." Naruto said more in sadness than in anger.

"Baka, I can't just do that I can't just leave you alone when you are the one I have always been looking for", Sakura finally responded.

Naruto turned around in a flash to see with his own two eyes Sakura standing in front of him. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he spoke.

"Sakura? What are you…how did you get…I thought you were…are you a dream?" he couldn't make full sentences.

Sakura just stood there and watched him stumble over his words; he just kept rambling on and on. She couldn't take it anymore. She just ran into his arms, throwing her arms around his body and tucking her head under his chin as she hugged him.

"BAKA, you talk too much…." she began to cry, but for the first time that whole week, the tears she cried were in joy.

Naruto just stood there his hands sticking out like he was a robot, and his eyes open as wide as they could go.

He didn't believe what was happening. However, the very next moment he had his arms wrapped up around her holding her close to him. Her hair smelled like strawberries and her skin was smooth like silk.

His mind just turned off, and for the first time he let his heart speak.

"I love you Sakura. I have always loved you; I have wanted to say that from the bottom of my heart for years. I always thought you loved Sasuke more than a friend. I always thought I never had a chance; I just always thought and never showed you how I truly felt. My heart doesn't know how to stop loving you, and I don't ever want it too.

Sakura clung to him, her arms tightly grasping him like he would just disappear if she let go.

She whispered into his ear, "I thought I lost you twice tonight…I'm not ready to let you go."

They stood there for a few minutes just in each others arms.

She released her hold on him and looked into his eyes.

"I do love Sasuke, Naruto…" she stated

Naruto felt his heart drop to the floor, he was going to release her when she starting speaking again.

"But not the way I love you….You have changed my life, you made me strong Naruto when all I felt was weak, you gave me the power to believe in myself, when I didn't believe. Your ninja way, became my ninja way, and I want to share every single day of my life with you Naruto Uzumaki …."

She leaned in and pressed her lips against his in a soft kiss.

Naruto froze from head to toe, he longed and dreamed for years and years to hear Sakura say she loved him, and right now in this very moment he was as stiff as a rock.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, and this time Naruto returned the passion. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

They stood under the stars and the moonlight in each others arms until they felt every ounce of breath was gone. When they pulled apart they interlinked their fingers as they made their way down the very dusty road that the story had begun on.

Voices from behind them caused them to stop and turn around.

"Well it is about time you two." Ino giggled as she made her way over to the couple.

"Yeah, you two are the most troublesome couple I have ever met." Shikamaru stated as he folded his arms

"This calls for a celebration…how about some bar-b-que?" Choji stated as he rubbed his hands together in delight.

Lee and Neji both gave a small chuckle, as the trailed behind Choji.

"Food and drinks on Naruto?" Sasuke stated.

He walked over to Sakura and Naruto, as he looked back and forth he asked, "Wonder what the kid will look like?"

Sakura and Naruto both blushed a cherry red and hugged Sasuke for his help in making them realize how they felt about each other.

"Let's go celebrate" Sasuke motioned the crowd ahead as Naruto and Sakura lagged in the back.

"Uh, Sakura I…wanted...to ask you something…", Naruto said one hand holding hers the other scratching his neck.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Do-Do you want to…would you want to…?" Naruto stumbled over his words as Sakura turned to look deep into his eyes.

"I Do." she looped her arm around his and placed her head on his shoulder as they followed the group.

"Alls well that ends well I suppose?" Jiraiya stated as he watched the group head off toward the distance.

"Naruto in the end got what he wanted the most…" Jiraiya stated

"Sakura?" replied Tsunade with arms folded.

"Yes that, but also…his happy ending."

Tsunade turned to face Jiraiya as he continued to watch Naruto and Sakura drift out of sight.

"You know Tsunade you have to give me some credit, I knew the boy loved her from the start, it just took him some time to realize it that's all. He just needed her to realize it too" Jiraiya turned around and began to walk away.

"Guess I will see you in a couple of years, I think I will head west, do some research for a new book…maybe a love story." he stated putting his hands behind his head.

All of a sudden he stopped.

Tsunade had placed her arms around him, and he stood there in surprise under the beautiful glow of the moon and stars.

"Jiraiya, I think…it is time…for your happy ending."

- Fin

Thanks for reading!


	14. Epilogue

Here's a little simply wrap up on our favorite couple! Thanks for reading and keep a look out for my future NaruSaku stories. Till next time

- - Epilogue

Naruto looked over his desk and let out a big sigh; he had finished most of his work for the day and was all set to head home. He took off his hat and placed it down on his desk and ruffled his hair.

He closed his office door when his secretary came running down the hall waving an envelope in the air, he took the envelope and thanked her.

He began to walk out the building door when he ripped the envelope open.

_Dearest Naruto,_

_Hope everything is going well in Konoha, we should be home soon. We are having the time of our lives. I have finished writing my love story, thanks for the inspiration. I would write more, but I see a fist flying my way._

_Love and Take care, _

_pervy sage and baa-chan._

Naruto smiled as he finished reading. Pervy sage and baa-chan had been traveling around the ninja world together. Those two had spent so many years apart, that they wanted to discover the world together again.

He looked up to the Hokage Mountain; he gave an even bigger smile.

His face looked exactly how he dreamed it would look up there.

Tsunade decided it was time for Naruto to take over the title as Hokage, and she passed down the responsibility to him to defend the village.

"Hello Hokage-sama."

Naruto turned to see a very pregnant Ino and Shikamaru walking down the road. Ino was nine mouths pregnant and almost ready to pop.

"Troublesome…", Shikamaru started but stopped when Ino squeezed his hand quite hard.

"Somehow, pregnant women get awesome strength", Shikamaru responded as he let go of Ino's hand and tended to his wound.

Ino shot him another glance. "It wasn't troublesome when we were making this baby now was it."

She turned to Naruto, "We will be there for dinner next week, if this guy doesn't decided to pop out by than."

She rubbed her hand over her belly and grasped Shikamaru's hand again as they walked off toward their house, both bickering back and forth.

Naruto continued on his way home as he turned the corner another familiar couple popped into view.

"Well if it isn't our Hokage."

Kiba and Hinata were sitting out having a wonderful picnic.

Hinata was holding onto there one year old daughter as, Kiba held tightly on to Hinata.

"Please sit and join us for some food, we have ramen." Kiba laughed.

Naruto was tempted, but declined the offer graciously.

"I should be heading home, thank you for the offer, I do hope Kiba you are bringing the two most important women in your life to my house for dinner next week."

"Yes we wouldn't miss it."

Naruto waved bye as he yet again began to head toward home.

Choji and Lee were having a race out on the field. Lee was running at full speed, as Choji was rolling in a ball as they passed Naruto in a flash.

"Hokage…we….see…next…dinner…bye

Naruto knew he had a colorful group of friends.

He was almost to his house when Neji and Tenten bumped into him.

"Sorry Hokage-sama, we were just on the way back from your house, we left the wedding invitation, we were going to wait for you but we were in a rush to hand out as many as we could today." Tenten replied.

Naruto stopped and talked with them for a few moments before they continued on there way.

He couldn't believe those two were getting married, Neji was fearless in battle but when he was trying to propose to Tenten he had the hardest time saying complete sentences out of fear.

Naruto passed a bench and was not surprised who he found sitting on it.

"Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi lowered his book from his face and stood to greet Naruto."

"Hokage-same I will have the details of the mission on your desk tomorrow; I got a little…um side tracked."

Naruto laughed at his former sensei's answer.

"Are you still good on dinner next week at my house, you can bring your book."

Kakashi nodded his head as he began to head home, "Yes of course, you have the world's best cook after all."

Naruto watched as he disappeared in a flash. He than saw the sun begin to dip behind the Great Mountains.

As he saw his house come into view a child came running up to him only about four years old.

"I am so happy, I am so happy, I am going to learn a new technique this week, and than someday I will be Hokage and protect this village."

Naruto smiled down at the child. His dream and passion reminded him of himself.

Sasuke could be seen coming toward the two. The child ran back over to Sasuke and grabbed him by the leg. Sasuke picked him up and put the child on his shoulders as he stood in front of Naruto.

"Father, uncle Sasuke is going to teach me a new technique. He said that one day I will be stronger than you, just like you became stronger than grandfather if I practice hard and believe in my ninja way."

The child had blond hair just like Naruto, he looked exactly like his father expect for the defining green eyes that stood out.

"I am happy to hear that Minato, and with a sensei like Sasuke I don't see where you could go wrong."

"Well, the son of such a great Hokage deserves the best teacher."

Naruto arched his eyebrow at his best friend. Who only widened his smile.

"I suppose he will be spending the night at your house."

"Yes I will bring him back tomorrow, and you would think that babysitting a kid would be boring, but no this one always keeps me on my toes with a thousand questions…wonder where he got that from?"

Naruto and Sasuke laughed together only causing Minato to have a confused looked upon his face.

Naruto bid farewell to his son and best friend as they walked off toward the Uchiha compound.

"Uncle Sasuke, will you tell me a story about my mother and father…."

"Well it all began when your father fell in love with your mother…."

The two disappeared off into the distance. Naruto looked at his house and sighed being quite relived that he was finally home.

He opened the door to find his wife standing in the living room.

He didn't know what it was about her, she just got more beautiful with age, but she always knew how to take his breath away.

"You missed the boys."

"I caught them on the way out."

She finished what she was doing and gave a quick kiss to her husband.

Everything had gone the way it should have after they found each other; Naruto showed Sakura the letter from Jiraiya who hoped they would make it in time for the dinner party.

The dinner party was to celebrate Naruto and Sakura's fifth wedding anniversary.

Naruto took a seat on the couch and closed his eyes.

Their wedding had been beautiful; they were married in the cherry blossom field with a crowd of four hundred. They had written their own vows, and when Naruto said "I Do" he knew that Sakura would be his soul mate in this life time and every lifetime after.

When Sakura took a seat in his lap, he opened his eyes.

"So Mr. Hokage, we have the whole house to ourselves, I wonder what we should do?"

Sakura gave Naruto a wide grin, as he kissed her neck.

"I don't know Sakura, what would you like to do?" he arched his eyebrows in the air as he turned to look at her eyes.

"I could think of a few things…" they both giggled.

He kissed her lovingly.

"That sounds good to me."

He picked her up bridal style and began to head up the stairs.

"Naruto…I have to confess something I have no idea what I could give you for our wedding anniversary? I mean everything I think of, you already have.", Sakura stated as they reached the top of the steps.

"There is something I want Sakura, that only you could give me…"

Sakura looked at him bewildered, Naruto had everything she knew he wanted so she was a little confused about what it could be.

"A daughter…" he stated with a small smile as he closed their bedroom door.


End file.
